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 Tracy Rebentisch has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and enjoys to write as a creative outlet. Her love of writing began at a very young age and her writing style portrays humor and truth in relaying her real-life experiences to her audience. Her email address is: redmelodee@optonline.net |
| It is what it is. We live in a world of social media surrounded by constant scrutiny and surveillance 24/7. While this definitely has its advantages at times – reconnecting with old friends, shopping, reading the news, entertainment – why not turn social media off for 1 month in order to stop and smell the roses, pay more attention to life and yes, pay more attention to your kids. Sounds easy, right? It is much harder than you think! Many of you might even be cringing right now at the very idea of trying this. C'mon, put down that cell phone, you can do it! It would also come with bragging rights because those of you able to accomplish this "feat" would be in the minority. I've chuckled in the past while reading such Facebook posts as, "Ok, I won't be on Facebook anymore" or "You won't be seeing me for awhile" thinking they will never make it for one whole month. They are simply garnering that last morsel of attention before riding off into the sunset. I wish them all the luck in the world. Crazy as it sounds, it does take courage. We’ve become a society of no longer having conversations, either on the phone or in person. Social media, emails and texting make it so easy for us to avoid this which impedes necessary social interaction. There is nothing better than speaking to someone face to face. It avoids anything that may be misconstrued in an email or text and has no feeling or emotion, only emoticons – ugh! And, it doesn’t allow people to use those so called Internet muscles or false courage that they would never have speaking with someone in front of them. For those thinking about it, give it a try and make a list of your newly-found accomplishments and goals while off social media. For those of you with spouses or partners, I would encourage both of you to “exit” at the same time. It will be difficult to watch your spouse checking out their phone while you can’t. Live in the moment and enjoy each other’s company while gazing into each other’s eyes. Imagine that! Now imagine your life and your world before cell phones. So much simpler without all the information overload. I miss those days, but, I think it’s healthy to go back to them, at least for a little while to see what you may have missed. After the 30 days are up, I bet you had a lot more free time on your hands. In our hectic and busy lives, this is exactly what all of us could use. Give it a shot, right here, right now. One of my favorite lines in an older movie (Apollo Creed from Rocky), “There is no tomorrow”. Try it today and be a part of the best Experiment ever.. | |
20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 