{"id":6328,"date":"2015-06-15T20:25:18","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T01:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=6328"},"modified":"2017-03-21T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T16:34:10","slug":"4-benefits-of-a-social-media-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2015\/06\/15\/4-benefits-of-a-social-media-break\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Benefits of a Social Media Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Social<\/a>Earlier this year I decided to take a 30-day break from social media. Wasn\u2019t a protest of any sort; I just needed to hear my own thoughts, and take a rest from the barrage of insanity that was saturating my scroll. Story after story of silliness, that for all intents and purposes had nothing to do with me, but stayed in my thoughts\u00a0for days.<\/p>\n

Tales like that of Rachel Dolezal, the young woman who has been pretending to be black, while serving as head of a local chapter of the NAACP. It\u2019s one of those stories so ridiculous it\u2019s hard to believe it is true. And yet as more and more of her tomfoolery comes to light, I can\u2019t help but be fascinated and just a little sad.<\/p>\n

Obviously many of you are too, as I see posts aplenty offering comments and speculation. We wonder why she would lie about her race, why her parents would out her after years of deception, and if she\u2019s mentally ill, a manipulator or just lacking in self-worth. We wonder, wait for more information, and willingly allow ourselves to be sucked in by her story. But meanwhile\u2026what is happening to our own?<\/p>\n

Nothing. Absolutely nothing in our own life story is changing, growing or getting better. Because for those precious moments we are wasting on her drama we have become observers of life, instead of truly living.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019m challenging all of us\u00a0to take a break from social media.\u00a0Now don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m not suggesting anything extreme. Just 5 days with no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, Google+, or any other network designed to keep us plugged in and engaged.<\/p>\n

It may seem strange at first, given that many of us check social media first thing in the morning, and\u00a0it sets the tone for our day. But trust me, there are some benefits to giving it a rest. Here are a few that I experienced on my 30 days away\u2026<\/p>\n

I got out of other folks business and into my own.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I heard my own thoughts and regained my perspective.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I reclaimed my time, and refocused on my priorities.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I got things done. In fact, I wrote 80 pages on my book during my break!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I could list twenty more, but y\u2019all get the drift. Social media has its uses, and it sure is fun. But every once in a while, when we find ourselves talking more about other people\u2019s drama than our own projects, it\u2019s time to take a break so we can break our bad habits.<\/p>\n

See here\u2019s the thing\u2026while we\u2019re spending all day debating whether Rachel is black or white, if she has any sense at all she\u2019s off to get a book deal. Her art has probably skyrocketed in value because of the scandal, and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see her made for TV movie produced in the next 12 months. Now I know \u2013 I\u2019ve probably made some of you mad just putting those ideas into the Universe, but you know it\u2019s true. Because while we\u2019re busy worried about her silliness, she\u2019s walked on down the road to her next adventure.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m suggesting we do the same. Because there is so much more we can achieve, but we\u2019ll only accomplish our goals if we get focused, and take action.<\/p>\n

So why not take a quick break, and get offline? Clear your mind, and dream a little. Spend more time with those you love, and listen closely for the whispers of the Spirit. Then come on back and join us \u2013 rested, renewed and ready to add a positive voice to our collective discourse.<\/p>\n

I hope you decide to give it a try. You’ll be amazed at what you hear when you get other people’s voices out of your head. Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know and we\u2019ll be sending good thoughts and prayers your way.<\/p>\n

Hoping\u00a0your days away are\u00a0filled with simple pleasures, sweet peace and divine inspiration!<\/p>\n

Hugs and Love\u00a0\u2764<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year I decided to take a 30-day break from social media. Wasn\u2019t a protest of any sort; I just needed to hear my own thoughts, and take a rest from the barrage of insanity that was saturating my scroll. Story after story of silliness, that for all intents and purposes had nothing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[204997546,114917237],"tags":[30789,204997597,122792808,204997654],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Social-Media.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-1E4","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9460,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions\/9460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}