Step 2

I have come to the realization that I am far too dependent on the technology which is so readily available in today's american lifestyle. I waste precious hours of my life staring at this screen, doing one pointless thing after another. I crave the twitter updates, I monitor the lives of my friends, I play countless games, I keep up with my facebook applications... Entertainment is so close and quickly accessible. It is effortless. I sit here and the most movement my body experiences is the typing of my fingertips on the keyboard, the occasional swooping of my arm with the mouse. Surely my retinas are forever burned by the harsh glow of the screen. I do love the ability to keep up with my family and friends so efficiently, but I feel like nothing that I do on the internet is even the slightest bit enriching for my life. I would hate to actually do the math and find out how much of my life has been fed to this beast. It is out of control, I cannot practice moderation anymore.
This is why I have made the decision to lessen my dependence on this wonderful creation. The internet is amazing. Information is literally at our fingertips, but it is dangerously tempting to let it control us. I do not wish to rid myself of it completely, but I feel like cutting back little by little is not going to be effective for me. I plan to cut myself off (entirely-100%) for a week to begin with, and to teach myself moderation from there. So much of my time could be spent bettering myself, furthering my knowledge. I could be reading, spending time with my new husband, playing with my dogs, going outside, working on my own novel, learning something new, cleaning, cooking, exercising, so many things that, at the end of the day, I can look back on and feel accomplished. Too many of the days I live look and feel exactly the same, and it is because they consist of the same components. I feel the need to mix it up a little, add some variety, or else my poor brain may just starve to death. I may not have money, but I am fortunate enough to work in a bookstore which can double as my own personal library. Time with my husband and children (my pups!) is free.
I am going back to school in the fall, and I feel that if I do not untrain myself to this lazy, pleasure based life that I have become accustomed to, I am destined to fail yet again. This is for me, I need to get into a more studious mindset. It is sad that I feel I have to make a big deal out of "cutting myself off," but it is true that I am that immersed in this technological world. It is a problem for me, and I intend to fix it. I will miss knowing instantly what every one of the people I love is doing at any given moment of the day the most. Maybe I'll get to know myself a little better, though-who I am, who I have turned out to be, what it is I want to do. We'll see.

Peace and love, guys!