SOCIAL MEDIA REALITY CHECK

I think I've just had an "aha" moment.  I read this article and suddenly had an epiphany.
 
Facebook is a background noise that distracts me from living.


I've given the idea of quitting Facebook some serious consideration in the past --in fact, I did quit (for less than a week) a year or so ago--but I've been wrestling a lot more with the idea lately. In fact, I've been wrestling so much, that it feels like a UFC fight inside my head.

I've begun to imagine what my life could look like without Facebook and I like that vision.  I am overstimulated by mostly useless information, that I admit makes "real life" feels rushed and diluted.  It is like I see life in washed out colors instead of vivid technicolor. That's sad.  I am guilty of wasting too much time checking in, posting an occasional status and reading others statuses, videos, articles, songs.
 
I have a list of things (a mile long) that I can/should/want to be doing instead of Facebook. Here are the first 15 that came to mind:

go to church/read my bible
volunteer
work out
meal plan and cook
begin the afghan I have the yarn and pattern for
spend time outside (riding my bike, taking a walk, hiking)
meet friends for coffee, drinks, lunch, dinner, breakfast
work on my writing
read
call family and friends
write letters
garden
make jalapeno jelly
home projects (that are an entire list of their own)
artistic/creative endeavors

I wholeheartedly agree with the points made by the author in her article (above).  I confess that logging onto Facebook often manages to irritate me more than anything else.   I get enough irritation at work and just working through the challenges in life in general without additional "self-inflicted-stupid-Facebook irritation" --why has it taken so long for me to figure that out? 

That being said, I am grateful for Facebook for the continuity I have with my family and friends who live out of state--most importantly, with my children and grand-babies that I see and talk to on Facebook everyday and I don't want to lose that.

So it's time for me to adjust the balance and fine tune my priorities.