Last year for Lent I decided to give up Facebook. It lasted three days. This year I had so much to be thankful for. So much. Life, love, family, friends, health. I could seriously go on for hours. So very much. And when I got down to why we give up something for Lent it just really hit me this year. Not that I have any less to be thankful this year than the others, but I do. Because each year, each day, each minute is a gift. A very precious gift. And so I thought about Lent, I thought about God, giving his only son, to save me. To save you, to save all of us. I'm not sure I would be willing to do that. Being a mother has given me a whole new perspective on Easter and Lent. Would I give my only child or any one of my three to save you or me? No. And when I thought about it that way, giving up a coke or chocolate or sweets and trying to improve my figure at the same time, just didn't seem right. A son for a coke? No, I felt like it needed to be big, it needed to mean something. So I gave up...Facebook.
And to be honest, it has not been bad. I've been more productive. I've started blogging again. I spend quality time with the tikes, that I hate to admit used to be spent on facebook. My laundry hampers are always empty, my clothes are always put away, my dinner is typically cooked by noon. I re-joined the gym and my husband he says I'm happier. All this because of Lent and Facebook? Probably not. I mean Lent did inspire me to give up Facebook. But giving it up sparked me to get busier, to think about things, life and to seize the moment. Get things done. It's been one of my best Lenten sacrifices yet.
Part of me misses being in the loop. I have gotten phone calls and text messages asking me what happened. Why would I give that up? Asking if and why I defriended them? Was I crazy? Did I miss it? Am I going back?
I will tell you what I miss. I miss the local news, the comments on the stories cracked me up. And I miss the brief updates on the news. I miss big happenings around town. I have made friends promise to call and fill me in if it was a very need to know situation. However is there "need to know" type situations on Facebook? I miss my family from out of town posts. I think my family also misses seeing pictures of my kiddos. I miss being able to send a quick message to someone when I need to. But that is all I miss.
Instead of Facebook, I fill my days doing house work I would have otherwise avoided or playing with the kids, without my phone in hand surfing Facebook. I'm more engaged with them. Noah and I spend more time in the driveway playing baseball than we ever have before. I also found pinterest. Which I find just as interesting without all the bullshit that goes along with it. I also only spend a few seconds of time on it. Never on my desk top always on my phone, while waiting in car lines or while sitting idle at meetings or whatever. I have to say, since giving up Facebook, my pinterest skills have skyrocketed. I probably have the best virtual closest, home and dinners around!
I thought the nights would be the hardest. That is typically when I would spend way too much time on Facebook. My husband often has loads of work to do at night and so that is when I would spend lots of time.... Unhealthy amounts...surfing, chatting, shopping. Whatever. Now I have read 6 books since Lent started. Which is way more productive. And my Words with Friends game has drastically improved. And that helps me fend off Alzheimer's, seriously a doctor...and not my husband, told me that this weekend.
The other biggest difference I noticed is...I am no longer sitting on the couch with my iPad or my iPhone. I'm more engaged in life, the here and now. My kids....they no longer sit around fighting over my iPad or my iPhone. Instead I find them reading books, playing with toys, and engaged in life. I guess actions do speak louder than words.
So that my friend is where I've been. The question I hear the most is will I go back? Hmmm. I guess I have 33 more days to decide.
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