The Social Site Addiction

Earlier in the week, as I was struggling through the first days of Lent, the Spirit convicted me of the use of my time.  I admit, I'm kind-of-sort-of-pretty-much a big Facebook addict. While I don't spend a tremendous amount of time on the computer, I do have a smart phone which allows me to quickly access the social sight.

It's so easy to hop on to read statuses, post photos, and update friends and family.  A little too easy, really.  In fact, it has become the first thing I do in the morning, sometimes even in the middle of the night when I'm nursing my little one.  The kids say something funny and I think, "I've got to share this!" I come across a good quote and think, "Oo, I have to post this!"  The Holy Spirit has really convicted me in this area, so much so that I felt the need to step away from Facebook for a week.

Easier said than done.  While I had planned on cutting off the Facebook activity by Monday morning, I found myself hopping on without even thinking about it.  I decided to give myself a cut off time when I would sign out and not get back on until 5pm the following Monday (March 21st).

I can't tell you how many times I grabbed my phone and absent mindedly flicked my finger across the screen, hovering it over the Facebook app.  I also promised to stay away from one of my favorite blog sites which I find myself repeatedly drawn, losing so much time in reading people's stories, replying to notes received and leaving comments for my friends.. and yet, when I hopped on the computer to check my mail, I immediately began typing out the social blog address... without even meaning to!

It's been so nice not to be a "slave" to them.  I'm still struggling through it, and sometimes I just want to give in, but I have vowed to stay away from them for a week... so I will.  It's been nice to focus on my family, on the things that need to be done, and not have these distractions calling out to me.  (Well, they still call out, but I'm learning to ignore them!)

I've been able to accomplish so much more around the house, and I've had so much fun playing with the kids without the distractions.  (I know they are grateful to have more of Mom's focus!) Since this week is Spring Break (we homeschool, but decided to take the week off along with the rest our district), we've been able to spend time with many of our schooled pals!

It feels so silly to struggle through all of this. It's just a website! A silly, social network!

But it's often the silly things that rob of us our time, isn't it?

Moments I enjoyed this afternoon:

 

Tossing the ball around with one my sons, and

Having a nice little chat with my toddler after getting the mail (his favorite "adventure").