
Do Twitter and Facebook really enhance your life? Are you willing to give up TV? Does checking your e-mail every hour make you feel better about yourself?
Some activities are habits that you don't recognize as harmful, yet in reality they take time away from what you say really matters to you. Actions truly do speak louder than words and you need to look at the payoff versus the cost of anything you do without being mindful.
For me, I spend time on facebook sharing inspirational quotes and photos and quirky humor with family and friends I know. I try to keep my friends to a low number because frankly having too many facebook friends means too much information streaming by on a daily basis. I have family and friends all over the country and it is my way of touching and being touched by who they are on a regular basis.
To that end, I have cut way down on reading e-mails: I have unsubscribed from many lists I am interested in because it is just way too much data to process when you prefer simplicity. I rarely watch the news or read a newspaper: I figure if there is something I really need to know, someone will tell me. If I have a few moments I will scan headlines on my computer to keep up; if not, I won't.
If I want to know something, I'll research it. I have realized I only want to add new information in snippets; one might consider that less than intellectual but I am no longer in school so I don't have any "required" reading anymore. I cringe when someone wants me to "analyze" something. It's different if I am passionate about something, but you can't be passionate about everything!
It's time for a reality check, but please be gentle with yourself. There are only so many hours in a day: how are you going to spend them?