Time to heed, time to go forward. Besides, with my 60 goals list, how could I ever have time to continue managing my little electronic bits and bytes that I became almost as attached to as reality. I kept saying I would get addicted if I tried one. I knew I would. I know me.
So today I said goodbye, one at a time, to all the crazy parts of a little world I had created in cyberspace. I still can't figure out how to delete the game, so I just mostly deleted all the parts, leaving just enough for my friends to continue using, and then I hit the "Block" button. I can no longer see it. I can't see posts from it. And it cannot see my information. Goodbye.
I'm moving forward. Reclaiming my life. Working on important things that I've chosen for myself to work on.
And I cannot believe I have spent hours a day on it. I wish I could reclaim those hours. I kept thinking, with each click, each delete, there is nothing, not one thing to show for the time I've spent. I am not a better person. I am not more spiritual. I am not smarter. I'm definitely not healthier. I haven't improved anything in my life during the time I have spent frittering away my precious minutes on the games.
And right now I feel a large sense of freedom. Hooray! I can do whatever I want to do! I looked the monster in the eye, defied it, and won! There is no downside to this. Only up side.
But the one good thing that came from the games was the number of friends I made on line. I hope the ones that we've shared so many things with over the Internet, will continue to be electronic friends. But I'll understand if they don't. I was, after all, just part of a make believe world.
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| Can't believe I gave up so much for this. |
5 comments:
Woo Hoo! Good for you! It is so hard to hear things in conference, know the message is telling us to act, and then to follow through. I am still postively terrified to go anywhere near Facebook. There are a few people I would like to talk to there who don't blog, but I just don't want to put a distraction that massive in my way, so I will continue to sit on the outskirts and feel left out.
I hope this will bring you back to blogging more. Blogging is okay, right? It's like journaling, although it can become a distraction too when I'm not careful.
Mom, I'm so proud of you. I know it wasw hard to say goodbye to the game. When I get moved down there, we'll play games together in real life, k. Good job :)
Does anyone ever really go back to old blogs to read comments on the comments? I doubt it. But, in case someone else out there is reading this new, I will reply to Julie and Tonya.
Julie, For one, Facebook is not a bad thing. It just has to be kept in perspective. One of my Farmville neighbors felt like my comments indicating playing Farmville is dumb. I would hate to think I spent so much time doing something dumb. It wasn't dumb. I just became obsessive about it. She can play on occasion and then walk away. I could not. That was why I had to give it up. I was spending several hours a day on it, and it had ceased to be fun for me, and it was interfering with so many other important things in my life.
I like the contact that is available on Facebook. Don't be afraid to get an account, Julie. Just know your own weaknesses and avoid getting entangled in them. Block applications you don't want to see posts about. And limit your friends to just those people you really want contact with. You'll enjoy that.
And Tonya, I am definitely taking you up on that. However, it may be a long while. Babies have a way of limiting those kinds of experiences for a while. But it is so totally worth it!!!
I actually do come back and read comments. I love comments and since I regularly talk to people in my own comments, I always check to see if anyone else does the same. Sorry if I sounded judgmental of those who use Facebook. It is just that almost everyone I know who is on there admits to letting it occupy too much time and energy, even to the point of being so addicted to what everyone is doing on Facebook that they are not spending time with their own family. It sounds fun to say hi to a few old friends, but if I haven't seen them in 20 years, odds are it is more important to just spend time with the people I will spend eternity with. That sounds judgy too and I don't mean for it to. Everyone knows I am a blogger and that I spend my fair share of time connecting with people in this setting, so obviously I use the computer everyday, too. Too much sometimes. But I have found an acceptable balance (for me) in my blogging. I don't want to introduce any other computer time in to my day. I know myself well enough to know that it is a bad idea (again, for ME not for everyone). The games would not appeal to me...it would be the temptation to make comments on everything. As you can see...I like to make comments. I do feel left out sometimes, but this is the decision that has felt right, so far.
Oh, Julie, I never thought of it as being judgmental at all. And hope you didn't read that into my comment either. I think the bottom line is that what works for one person does not always work for another. Some can leave the games alone. I can not. Some can glance through the status updates and walk on, others have to read every friend, every comment, and respond to them all ... which can be a huge time stealer.
You're right, the most important thing in our lives right now is the family we'll be with for eternity. And I'm glad you're part of it! Thanks for coming back and reading again.
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