Saturday, February 26, 2011

Day 124: February 26, 2011.

Holy Hannah, it is a GORGEOUS day here in New York City!  The sun is shining, a spring breeze is blowing, and I had no choice but to smile as I walked down the street just now!  It's so nice to see spring so close!  It's coming, people!  We're almost there! :)

I just took a brief walk through Union Square after spending some time in the bookstore (I will never not love browsing bookstores...I'm sorry, but I'll never be sold on a Nook or a Kindle!  I need pages to turn!) and my whole day was made even better than it already has been!  I was going to go right home after my errand but after seeing the Union Square farmer's market out and bustling, I had to go check it out!  (For the first time this spring season!  Yay!)  I love going up there on the weekends and checking out what all the local farmers and bakers are selling...Today I decided to help the cause and get a few little treats :)  Beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL day :):)

I've also been put in a great mood thanks to my finalized decision (as of this morning) to get off of Facebook for a little while.  I won't be gone forever, but this has been something that's been on my heart for a few weeks now and I believe the time has come to let it go for awhile.  I really can't believe how addictive a website can be.  I mean, I can believe it, but I don't like it!  Haha!  And yes, I do understand that it really is great for networking and it's such a fast and easy way to stay in communication with people, but when it becomes something more than that, that's when the problem arises.  And yes, I believe I have a problem!  Ever since church last Sunday I've really been thinking about where my tie-ups are.  What are the things that are preventing me from being totally and completely free?  What are the things that have me bound into a rut of stagnancy?  There are two that I can think of off the bat, and that is the weird need to have the TV on all the time when I get home (that's the first thing I do these days...Drop my bags, take off my coat, turn on the TV), for no reason other than to have mindless activity going on in the background.  The other is my growing dependency on Facebook.  It's actually becoming quite annoying to me, because no matter how bored I am, no matter how much I'd rather be doing something else, I can't seem to get myself away from refreshing the home page over and over again (while watching pointless TV.  Haha!).  Every once in awhile it's fine, but when every spare moment is spent this way, that's just sad and ridiculous!  Also, I'm realizing that when I wake up in the morning and the first thing I turn on is my computer and the television, my motivation to get active and moving goes away so much faster than if I get up and start doing something right away.  Once I get sucked into the traps I have such a hard time getting myself out!  And I mean, come on.  I live in the middle of New York City.  I'm pretty positive I can find at least 82 other things to do with that time--per day!

For example, my new "To-Do" list includes...
-Reading so much more!  I used to be a huge reader!  Then I got lazy!  The time has come to get familiar with those things called books again!  My Bible, magazines, novels, short stories, poetry...A real book is better than Facebook any day!!  (**If anyone has any good reads they'd like to pass along, I'd be more than happy to hear! :))
-Listen to music.
-Work on choreography.
-Do my schoolwork.  (Haha!  I mean get it done before the day it's due ;))
-Take a fun dance class somewhere.
-Go to yoga.
-Do some writing.  I haven't been writing as much these days either (except for this blog) and I'm really missing it!
-Cook something new.
-Take a nap.  VERY important during the week!
-Go try to get more visits in with friends.
-Learn a new activity, like knitting!  I've been wanting to learn for awhile actually but haven't given myself the time.  Lila, if you're reading this, I'm coming at you for some lessons!!
-Color!
-Get back into regular letter-writing.
-Take walks.  Explore more of this beautiful city!

Okay, so it may not be 82 alternatives, but there are 13 other things I could be filling my free time with.  So as of tomorrow, I'm excited to say I'm going to take a vacation from Facebook and enjoy living real life for awhile!  I won't be gone forever, but it's time that I break these habits and this bondage that I feel is really holding me back from placing my focus where it needs to be right now!

Like I said, it's not totally permanent and I won't be completely gone!  This "Like" List is still totally in full swing and I'll still be Tweeting plenty (follow me on Twitter at michaelacathmc), plus letters, emails and phone calls/text messages are always great!  But I'm really excited about getting off and getting out...Life really is so great and I'm not going to live it solely through technology :)

So today, on this stunning Saturday in the city, a fresh start, a renewed energy that comes with a renewed knowledge and experience of real freedom, and optimism about and excitement for the gifts and blessings that accompany this life all make me happy :):)

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