Face it, and Change!

I don't know what you celebrate, but in our house, we celebrate Easter. The chocolate bunnies, hidden eggs. Peeps. Family. Church. The whole deal. This year, I gave up Facebook. I found I was spending so much time on it, and I was being so lazy with my time management, that I figured, I needed to lighten the load, so to speak.

At first, it was total torture! I never knew what my friends were doing. I was missing out on news! I was missing posts! Surely this was more isolation than giving up something that was not serving me well...That's what I was telling myself anyway. In truth, I used Facebook to lure me in when I was feeling weak about what to do next, or feeling like I needed to do SOMETHING, but WHAT?!

"Geez. Didn't make a list today. Well, let me just plop down in this chair and check my Facebook real quick...This situation is bugging me...log on. Check Facebook. Post something, forget about it..."

It was becoming a crutch rather than an asset in a lot of ways. It was my lure from indecision, or discomfort...

And we all have those things. Something that we turn to when we are at a loss. Need a distraction. Maybe it's food. TV. Exercise. Books. The computer. You see where I am going.

The Lenten sacrifice is about giving up something you love, something that tempts you, or something you really could do without. And then on Easter, it's about re-birth. How can you be renewed in faith and in spirit to live better?

So what happened? Yesterday, I logged onto Facebook. Ahhh... all my friends were there. I really missed them so much. And the first thing I did was change my profile picture. Then I posted. A little while later, I was back on it. Checking....and it occured to me. This behavior. Did I just give it up then go back to my old ways? I so did.

So I made a deal with myself. Use it, but use it well. Not as a crutch. Go see my friends. Enjoy their company. But don't use it in lieu of doing that thing, whatever it may be, that I might be avoiding. Or putting off, or that brings me to indecision.

Facebook is not life. It is a PART of life. It is a part of my life, and it needs to stay in the space I keep for it. I am striving to simplify my life, so I have time for all the amazing things I want to try and all the beauty and fun that life is filled with!

So in the spirit of Spring, renewal and shedding of old habits, find the nagging thing you know you must change to move on, and dare yourself to change it, then be amazed at joy you find on the other side.