Have you ever forgotten your phone and felt instant panic? Or you hear that ping to let you know you received a text, email, or Tweet and you just can’t resist the urge to check what’s going on? (seriously it just happened to me – FB notification and I had to look). Do you ever have a day where you interact more with your phone than anyone else? Ever out to happy hour with friends or dinner with family and you’re only half present because you’re texting away and checking Facebook statuses? If I am being totally honest, I’m quite sure I could answer yes to all of these AND IT’S EXHAUSTING! Always being on, tuned in, and connected is a serious energy drain and has also left me feeling like I am missing out on what’s happening right in front of my face. Ever feel that way?
I have been talking about the need for better boundaries with electronics for the last few weeks now, but for whatever reason have not been able to follow through. Well don’t you know that two weeks ago our internet went down. I was forced to practice exactly what I was saying that I needed…better boundaries with electronics. The universe very clearly responded to my request, doing for me what I was having a hard time doing for myself! I could have become upset and agitated and probably forced the issue to get someone out there fast to fix it BUT I chose to see it as an opportunity to do exactly what I was saying I needed and wanted to do.
Now I am still able to connect using my phone, which I still do, but it’s not quite as easy so my online activity has been substantially limited. It’s been liberating in a way and I am not feeling super motivated to get it all up and running at this point but at the same time I’m not sure that I fully trust myself with my electronic boundaries once I am connected. I recognize that it is going to take a consistent effort to make these better electronics boundaries stick but this is a high priority for me and I have decided that my self care and my relationships are much more important then instant access to the wireless world. I mean seriously, it will still be there later right?!
I challenge you to cleanse yourself from being fully connected, try it even for a day. In what ways do you feel differently? How are your relationships impacted? What do you do with ALL THAT EXTRA TIME????? I’d love to hear about your experience and know that this is absolutely something I could support you on during your health and mindset coaching program. Look for an electronics cleanse challenge coming your way soon on FB!
Emily