TIME…..a precious treasure

This past week has been all about re-focusing my time and priorities…..Priorities that have been displaced.

You know what I’m talking about…those precious things that are easily snuffed out and pushed aside (  sleep, exercise, Bible devotion, hubby time, play-time with kids, homeschool planning, reading to the kids, organizing, cleaning, mommy-ing, journaling…aka: blogging) because of the other distractions of this world that are just easier to do, and don’t take as many brain cells or effort

…you know, brain numbing things (facebooking, reading others blogs, internet surfing, tv watching, anything in front of a screen that is entertaining)…not that any of these things are bad in and of themselves.  But when they start to shift their way up the priority list and unintentionally become the focus of my thoughts, my time and my spare energy.

Well, then they start to become my excuse for NOT doing the above list of things…..the important things that matter in the end.

So, then….there’s  a problem.  A problem I was now ready to face and call what it was.

It’s about balance, and self-control. All of which was NOT happening in my life.

Summer was ending…and the new school year was fast approaching. REALITY WAS HITTING ME!!

There was one distraction that was BIGGEST of all.

You probably know what that is.

So, I made the decision to pull away from facebook for a season. For myself, I came to the conclusion that in order to not be tempted in any way of logging in and getting sucked back in for an hour or TWO at a time, that  I just needed to go ahead and deactivate the stupid thing!

It just made sense.

I was getting to the end of my day and wishing for a couple more hours to get to spend doing the things that really mattered.

Then, I would look back on my day that I had lived those past 24 hours and I would tally up the amount of time, and thoughts that were consumed in front of a screen, checking in on 100’s of other people’s lives,

….and I would wince.

 hello????

……it was like I was hit over the head by a hammer.

If I wanted more time, then I needed to stop wasting it.

 I needed to take control of my time again…..

I needed to become more accountable to it.

TIME…

You can never EVER get it back. Once it’s gone….it’s gone.

It’s a precious commodity that I have wasted far too long.

  See, a lot of stuff that time is needed for ….is JUST …well…just NOT FUN! And, the internet provided a good excuse to simply NOT do it…

 However, something started happening when  the option of plopping in front of the computer to scroll the newsfeed was taken away:

I mopped my floor
I finished my book
I organized my homeschool materials
I finally got around to re-arranging my basement/aka homeschooling area
I organized the pantry, with the help of my two oldest kids
I finished my bible study book
I started exercising regularly
I finished Charlotte’s Web with Helaina
I dot- painted with Ash, Tahlia and Helaina
I lesson planned for school
I did puzzles with my baby girl…lots of them!
I played card games
I helped my kids organize and clean their rooms
I thought about how long it had been since the beds were stripped….
I stripped beds
I sat down and planned out some dinners
I researched our spelling and history curriculum
I reserved school books at the library
I hung a photo collage on my wall
I dusted
I pruned my bushes
etc. etc. etc….

I got more things accomplished!

Oh,and……
I sat outside with my feet in the baby pool…and…ready for this???? NO phone was next to my side!!!

…..in fact, That little phone of mine was getting left behind a WHOLE LOT MORE. 

and ya know what!!! GET THIS! Dust was actually starting to form on my Ipad when it sat on a table next to my bed untouched for days at a time, believe it or not!

Shocking, I know! 😉

But, most importantly….my mind feels lighter, less A.D.D. feeling….KWIM?  LOL

This may just be me, and the wonderful side affect that I am feeling from unplugging. I am weird like that…HA!
….Its amazing! I feel like I have not only more time, but more space in my head….

You see, because it’s not consumed with knowing and carrying around what’s going on in 100’s of other people’s lives.

I’ve concluded that my mind wasn’t meant to keep up on that many lives.

I guess I never realized how heavy my mind had become with keeping track of so many people’s comings and goings and problems and celebrations and realizations and thoughts and conclusions….

….until I just let go of it. Let it not become so important.

Now, suddenly….it’s like….there’s space up there.

Space….

space for the late night talks with my pre-teen, space for brainstorming and problem solving of certain children’s night-time issues, space for hearing and REALLY listening to the issues my hubby is facing, space for praying, space for pondering, space for reflecting on the needs of MY HOME, space to think…..

ahhhh mind-space…. and time…. regained and used to focus on the REAL priorities, the things that matter most in my life: God, hubby, kids, home, friends.

Wait, what???….you said, “friends”….ummmm, I know what you are thinking: Facebook is about connecting with friends.

And, to tell you the truth, that part I do miss. Just seeing the everyday happenings and the HUGE EVENTS of those I love most in my life. It’s just such a convenient and easy way to stay connected.

But, I know that I can also more intentionally do that by phone, by emails, and IRL: in real life…imagine that!! LOL

I am not saying that I will never re-activate my account….because I probably will.

The truth is that I do find so much positive value in fb, believe it or not.

It’s especially positive if you are one of those awesome people (and currently I wasn’t) who can just casually check in a couple times a week, even once a day….. and not let it become an every hour thing, basically…..an addiction!

But, for me…I had to call it what it was.

AN ADDICTION

 I had to purge and get rid of the “desire” the “addiction”….the feeling like I HAD to check in and see what was going on. Like….I couldn’t miss anything!

You know…..That desire….. like I needed to check in on that stupid screen more than I needed to checked in on my own kid’s hearts.

SOBERING….

Yeah….a little refocusing is a good thing for me. SO NEEDED.

I had to buy back my time, because it was just too valuable to let it get sucked away anymore.

When screen time….FB time is NOT THAT IMPORTANT anymore….then, I know I will be ready to log back in…..and be more disciplined to not let it swallow me, my time ….and my mind up. 🙂

Well, Thanks for listening to my ponderings and reflections….now that I have more time to actually do that! ha!

***Update***
     So, after two weeks of living with no facebook (a deactivated fb) I have decided to re-activate my account. The purging of the FB was so helpful in starting back into our school year. I was able to not get distracted with all the new demands on our day. But, the most important result from breaking away for a short time…..I don’t crave it anymore!! I stay logged out all day, and check once at night for pm’s and notifications and ALL the other good things that it can be utilized for. Another thing that has helped is that I havent activated FB on my new phone. 
I feel like I am experiencing a new freedom, and I praise God for it. The Lord answered my prayers to not LIKE fb so much! LOL :p.
 One thing is for sure, I need accountability in this area of my life….I know that if  I don’t keep my priorities straight, then FB can easily suck me back in and I can lose focus again and get all fuzzy in the head. It’s a slippery slope! 😉