I will admit. It's not exactly easy to not jump on Facebook to see what's going on in the fake world. That is how I can tell that it's a good decision to quit. Friday, I didn't touch FB. Saturday morning, I was on for about 10-15 minutes in the morning. Quitting cold turkey was a little intense. :-) There are some groups on there that I may miss some announcements - like Boy Scouts and Bulk Food/Coupon Deals - not sure how that's going to work. FB seems to be the preferred method of communications/announcements. But, I am sure we'll figure it out. With FB on my phone, I sometimes felt like I didn't let FB interrupt my normal day since I didn't have to dig out the computer. However, it was so easy to be on it more often. There is likely some good that comes out of FB. I know that our we can look out for one another based on random posts - it might cause someone to make a phone call and check on someone. There are birthday reminders, which could be good. I, however, feel that I have gotten very un-personal and forget more birthdays and do not prepare for them ahead of time like I used to. Why? It's really fast to to just hop on and type "Happy Birthday!" than it is to actually plan ahead, make a card and get it in the mail on time. I want to go back to making cards for people. So, friends and family - 2012 could you be your birthday card year . . . digging the craft room out is a key factor in that goal. OK, so that was kind of random tangent about birthdays. The point of my post is really to state my success in giving up something. It's pretty sad to me that I find it hard to give up Facebook. Maybe it's not permanent, maybe I just need a break. I know my husband would love for it to be permanent.
The other day, well last Sunday, we got to hear from the mission President and his wife. They are very nice and personable people. I don't think I've been in a ward where the mission president came to visit or speak. Maybe I have and don't remember, but anyway . . . President Greer said that he used to not find time to read the scriptures daily, yet he would wake up early and read the newspaper without fail. He realized his priorities needed to change, so he cancelled the newspaper and used that 30 minutes to read the scriptures.
We have a saying or a goal at work - we try to work smarter, not harder. If we are using our time and resources efficiently, we should be able to accomplish what we need to. Sounds pretty easy, right? I am sure it's a little easier said than done. However, I always remember a picture of a statue of Jesus Christ with his arms outstretched with the caption, "I never said it would be easy, but I said it would be worth it."
So, I am dedicating myself to reorganizing my time and my energies for some other things in life than worrying about what everyone else is doing or reporting, what they like or don't like, what article they read, what saying they thought was cute, what shameful thing their spouse did this time, what cute thing their kids did (although I am definitely going to miss reading about my little great niece and nephew - the twins). I have my own kids to spend time with. I have structures to build with Gunnar. I have scrabble to play with Paden, even though he cheats. I have "guy-guys" to splash with Fischer. I have walks to take with the dog. I have scriptures to read with my family. I have lessons of the gospel to teach my kids. I have family connections to make through thoughtful cards and letters. I have missionaries to encourage with letters. I have grandparents to call. I have scrapbooks to make. I have clothes to fold (always!). I have Las Vegas vacation to plan (although plane tickets and hotel is taken care of, we need to plan our buffet route). I have holiday travel plans to discuss. I have garbage to take out. I have banana/choc chip muffins to bake. I have dinner menus to plan. I have grocery lists to make. I have bills to pay and budgets to review.
Seriously people, where do we find time to get everything done? You know that's not the end of my list of stuff to do. I also love to sleep a good 8 hours. Did I also mention that I work full time? I know you know that, but let's not overlook that one. Well, I tell you, I would often let some of those things go because I was not motivated and when I wasn't motivated, I was seeing what everyone else was doing on FB. I didn't even get into any of the games and I don't have that many "friends" relatively speaking, I can't even imagine how much more time could be potentially wasted out there in cyber space.
Tonight, I tackled laundry. It was out of control. There was more clean than dirty, which is usually the case in my house. I can get it washed, but not put away. I always feel better when there are more areas of the house clean than not. So, the dishes got washed, the boys' room got cleaned and my room got cleaned. Gunnar, the sweet child he can be, took out the garbage, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned the living room yesterday while I was napping with Fischer. He didn't have to be asked. I later gave him a dollar for his efforts. I wonder if he deserves more than a dollar. Even though he tried to wash something that had liquid dish soap in it and we had to ShopVac a few suds out of the dishwasher, he did a very good job for a 9-year old boy. Again, I ramble. My point is that I just feel so much relief and unburdened when the house isn't a complete disaster. It gives me "almost" motivation to tackle the computer room and garage. I think that's going to have to be a day off work to do those though - or the boys will need to not be here somehow.
So, now I am running out of time to get my 8 hours of sleep in - yeah . . . since I can't really sleep until 7am. It's looking like 6.5 to 7 hours. But, while I was rambling out my fingers, I was listening to the Music and the Spoken Word on BYUTV. Had I known I could find the complete text online, I wouldn't have taken the time to type, rewind, type, rewind and type the whole thing. It was really good. So, I'd like to share it.
| The Journey to Christmas | Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell |
What an awesome message.
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