Step Away From the Email....

Do you ever wake up in the morning, and the first thing that you do is roll over and check email, Facebook, and Twitter on your phone?  Or do you just sleep with your laptop on your nightstand? (or in bed with you like a long-lost lover)  Do you take your laptop to the couch while watching a movie with friends just to make sure that you don’t miss out on something important…even at 10 pm...even though you're already doing something important?

Since when did checking on the status updates of the world matter more than taking time with your wife, your husband, your children, your friends, or more importantly: God?  You do understand that all of those status updates and emails will be there even if you wait just 15 minutes to spend time having breakfast with your kids?  

I know that there are times when I am guilty of rolling over and checking my phone out of habit. I mean, I do it all day long to make sure that I haven’t missed anything, all the while missing out on what’s currently happening.  (or to be “technically correct”: what’s happening in my live feed.) There are times that I neglect my husband so that I can “just finish this one thing”, and in the same sentence get mad it him for not paying attention to me. It’s a complete double-standard, I know.  And what I’ve come to realize is that we all have an addiction that has consumed our every move and thought.  We are anxious if we don’t check everything right now, because we’ve made ourselves believe that if we don’t do it right now, then something could be missed…or we could be expelled from the universe. Who knows what irrational thought process you’ve designed for yourself to rationalize your information/technology consumption.  And on top of all that, we can’t see our own mistake to realize when we are guilty.

A while back, I remember hearing about an article that someone wrote about our information-consumed generation, and he challenged people to not let the glow of their phones and computers be the last thing they see before they go to bed, and not be the first thing they see when they woke up.  (DO NOT GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!!) We have the rest of the day to be engrossed in work and the “need-to-know" to be let that consume our brains before we close our eyes. 

So challenge yourself to be interested in the world of the living around you.  I know that I will be. The people around you care about you and want to be with you.  They want you to turn off everyone and everything else when you sit down for dinner, and show them that they matter.  I’m pretty sure that there were a couple of statements like: “Treat others how you would want to be treated…” and “Actions speak louder than words”.  Seems pretty important, and I would bet that your life would look and feel much more fulfilling if you lived by these simple statements.  And at the very least when you follow these, you are showing your loved ones value, which could change the very course of their day.