Fasting: primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some "thing", for a period of time.
So at the beginning of the year I decided to take a "social media" fast. I only checked emails on a DIRE need basis. I shut down my Facebook, tweeted only once, and even started off on the wrong foot with wanting to "blog" and write more.
But I felt I needed to focus more. As Jackie Chan put it so elequotely in the next Karate Kid. "My foooocussss neeeeeed mooooo fooocuuussss". So I decided for the first month of every year I'm going to "shut down the system...stick it to the man....reach for the sky (ok WHAT?)". So I did just that. I shut down all social connections, to work on my spiritual connections.
Here's what I learned.
1. "Wearily must we be on things that are meant to bring us closer, least they tear us apart".
Remember, what you read on a status PROBABLY has a story behind it. What you write on your status, MAY have implications on how others view you. Anyway how many convo's start with "He/She wrote it on Facebook", "He/She facebooked, "He/She deleted me on facebook".
2. EVERYONE wants to know EVERYTHING. This means people stalking/watching your every
post, pic, response, re re response, like, group, etc etc. We as people have a incredible need to know what EVERYONE is thinking at EVERY moment of the day. We have to unplug our need to know EVERYTHING.
3. NOT EVERYONE CARES....NOR SHOULD THEY...The only thing worse then the person who wants to know what everyone is thinking about everything. Is the person who THINKS everyone wants to know what HE/SHE is doing, thinking, eating, reading, dreaming EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY. I say it with love love love. LET'S ALL JUST GET OVER OURSELVES. Leave a bit of room for mystery please. Plus, what's better then revealing a dream, anger, resentment, heartache, happiness in the company of your closest friend face to face ( - =
4. QUIET THE NOISE.......You can watch on a regular news feed/tweet feed how much time people are putting into their status/stalking efforts. Remember, SOLITUDE is a spiritual discipline. If your someone who is REALLY REALLY uncomfortable in silence. It's probably the very thing God is calling you to. Heres a great song by Upton to get to my point:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqKj9toFo4Btw Doing this I noticed my Prayer life increased, my reading doubled and I'm a avid reader, my focus seemed sharper, my exercise routines went from 0 to 3 in the month ( don't judge).
Social media is great and I love staying connected and sharing a good laugh. Cell phones are convienient, video games are a blast, and all can be used as such great resources for your personal life, ministry, or entertainment. But just remember shutting them all down is a great discipline to regain FOCUS, to establish BOUNDRIES (personal and professional), to stay CONNECTED to the real world (and not hide behind a social network system).
Live wisely,
jIMMy..
So at the beginning of the year I decided to take a "social media" fast. I only checked emails on a DIRE need basis. I shut down my Facebook, tweeted only once, and even started off on the wrong foot with wanting to "blog" and write more.
But I felt I needed to focus more. As Jackie Chan put it so elequotely in the next Karate Kid. "My foooocussss neeeeeed mooooo fooocuuussss". So I decided for the first month of every year I'm going to "shut down the system...stick it to the man....reach for the sky (ok WHAT?)". So I did just that. I shut down all social connections, to work on my spiritual connections.
Here's what I learned.
1. "Wearily must we be on things that are meant to bring us closer, least they tear us apart".
Remember, what you read on a status PROBABLY has a story behind it. What you write on your status, MAY have implications on how others view you. Anyway how many convo's start with "He/She wrote it on Facebook", "He/She facebooked, "He/She deleted me on facebook".
2. EVERYONE wants to know EVERYTHING. This means people stalking/watching your every
post, pic, response, re re response, like, group, etc etc. We as people have a incredible need to know what EVERYONE is thinking at EVERY moment of the day. We have to unplug our need to know EVERYTHING.
3. NOT EVERYONE CARES....NOR SHOULD THEY...The only thing worse then the person who wants to know what everyone is thinking about everything. Is the person who THINKS everyone wants to know what HE/SHE is doing, thinking, eating, reading, dreaming EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY. I say it with love love love. LET'S ALL JUST GET OVER OURSELVES. Leave a bit of room for mystery please. Plus, what's better then revealing a dream, anger, resentment, heartache, happiness in the company of your closest friend face to face ( - =
4. QUIET THE NOISE.......You can watch on a regular news feed/tweet feed how much time people are putting into their status/stalking efforts. Remember, SOLITUDE is a spiritual discipline. If your someone who is REALLY REALLY uncomfortable in silence. It's probably the very thing God is calling you to. Heres a great song by Upton to get to my point:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqKj9toFo4Btw Doing this I noticed my Prayer life increased, my reading doubled and I'm a avid reader, my focus seemed sharper, my exercise routines went from 0 to 3 in the month ( don't judge).
Social media is great and I love staying connected and sharing a good laugh. Cell phones are convienient, video games are a blast, and all can be used as such great resources for your personal life, ministry, or entertainment. But just remember shutting them all down is a great discipline to regain FOCUS, to establish BOUNDRIES (personal and professional), to stay CONNECTED to the real world (and not hide behind a social network system).
Live wisely,
jIMMy..
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