Unplug

“Unplug”

Hey Shapers!

It’s Sunday and I’m writing this after a week aboard a cruise ship visiting a friend.  I mention this because I was without my cell phone for the entire week and it reminded me how wonderful it is to unplug.

I’m always saying to my husband how I want him to leave his cell phone at home when we go on a date or in another room when we are eating dinner.  It’s just too easy to get distracted and focus on your phone rather than your real life companion. (This rule goes for me too.)

As you know, I teach fitness classes, and as such I often find myself up at 4am to get ready for work.  It’s very quiet at this time in the morning and dark and cold in the winter.  I often find myself seeking my phone to look at the latest Instagram feed while I eat breakfast, just so I can feel like someone else is up as early as me.

However, I find that when I do this, I end up with a frenzied morning and a jittery feeling as I begin my day.  It’s all consuming to just read a never-ending news feed and nothing is gained but hollow news and a loss of time.  It’s not the most settling way to start my morning and I can tell the difference when I get up and leave my phone untouched.

On such mornings, I just sit and consume breakfast in the calm, quiet of the morning and have a moment to listen to my thoughts and clear my head.  I even get a chance to acknowledge nature around me and perhaps even plan my day a little.  It can be quite peaceful.  My morning and my eventual day follow along much more smoothly and more serenely.  I highly recommend it.

I’m not saying we should never check social media ever.  Let’s face it, that’s the world we live in.  I’m proposing that we have one day, or even one morning a week where we unplug from our phones, ipads, and computers to really appreciate life.

I’m talking about spending time with the ones we love, AND time with ourselves.  It’s so important for us all to get some quality time for ourselves to relax our body and mind.  Let’s face the fact that constantly emailing and scrolling news feed is not the best use of our time or the best way to live a full life.  It’s a great way to voyeur on other people’s experiences.  However, what if we start finding experiences for ourselves.  And possibly, we don’t have to share every moment of our lives with others.  The moment can still be precious if it’s not shared with the world.  Perhaps more so.

What do you think?  Will you unplug once a week?  If so, when is best for you? Do you like unplugging?  I’m going to try to do it on Sundays.  This will be my away message: #UnplugSunday…..Care to join me?