Time for change

When you feel like your life is controlling you - then you know that things must change.  

Firstly, I am tired of being connected all the time.  Cell phones have made life easier in some aspects but far too difficult in others.

By being at your cell phones beckon call you are separating yourself from those around you.  The picture above is a clear explanation of that.  I would never want my family members to feel that way, but I know at times they do.  It is time to make change - here is what I have done to start making changes:

1. turn off notifications- get rid of the little red dot that is telling you that you need to check your phone right now.  Everything can be changed and modified in your settings, make time to implement these changes - you will be thankful.
2. put the phone down - when you get home from work have a place for your phone and leave it there.  This is your time to spend with your family - you do not work 24 hours a day - whatever it is, it can wait until morning.  Let your friends and family know that you are not checking your phone 24 hours a day, just because you receive a text message does not mean that you have to reply immediately.  
3. At night do not place your phone on your night stand.  Keep the temptation away.  Sleep is for rejuvenation and relaxation - that is not provided by your phone or any app.  Our family placed a table in the hallway which is our charging station, all our "stuff" is left there for the night.  It sets a good example when your devices are located on the table with the whole family.
4. When going out with friends leave your phone in your car or your purse.  Keep your focus on those that you are spending your time with, not the random people on Facebook.  Even if your phone is face down on the table, it is a distraction.  Put the thing away!
5. Speaking of Facebook- take a few minutes to go through your "friends" list and start deleting.  I took a look at my list and I started to be selective.  I found a portion of my "friends" never talked to me in real life when I saw them so I wasn't sure what relationship I was having with them so I had to delete.  I had a few "friends" that spent most of their time complaining,  why would I want it in my feed?  Which led me to ask, "What do I want to see in my feed?"  That led to going through groups and pages that I liked and I cleaned house on my Facebook page.  I only want to see things that are going to encourage and inspire me.  I refuse to invest any of the precious time I have on this earth filling myself with negativity.
6. Just because your phone rings does not mean that you have to answer.  A pet peeve of mine is people who chat on their phone while they are checking out at the grocery store.  I am really not interested in hearing your conversation and honestly - it is really rude.  

Not only are we making changes with how we interact with our phones but also that black rectangle in our living room.

A couple of years ago we built a house, it's not finished yet.  I am married to a contractor, it probably won't be finished when we celebrate our 50th anniversary.  But that's okay because it is about the family that lives in it, not it's finishes.  When we were working with the engineers we designed a room around our TV.  We dedicated a room so that our family can sit around and be entertained by box on the wall.  Why did we choose to do this? 

Now we are seeing the err in our ways and we are making changes.  I have disconnect our cable, and honestly we do not miss it.  There are a couple of shows that we like to watch and we can catch them online and we have Netflix.  It is amazing to see how many other things that we can find to do now that we are not focused on that box on the wall and we are saving $70 a month!  Score!

It is now time for me to back away from the computer and go and help my daughters make syrup from the chokecherries that they have been out picking.  Summer is almost over and I want to enjoy every moment that I can.

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