I love social media. I love seeing your selfies when you're feeling pretty and your dinner and your kids in their Easter get ups and your PRs and your traveling adventures. I love reading the articles you share, the stories about your memories, the inspiration you feel compelled to share with the world and following your blogs. I love all of it. Even when you're going through a tough time or need to vent, I love that you trust me with your burdens and then especially when you get through that difficult time, the story you have to share.
Social media gets a bad wrap sometimes, but for the most part, I believe it can be used for more good than bad. After moving, it has been crucial in maintaining connections with my friends and family back home and in 'seeing' friends more often. In powerlifting, it has been key in building new connections with people that share my interests. The strength community, while growing exponentially, is still a fairly small community, and it's fun to connect with other strength athletes across the country (or world).
Of course, we all know the dark sides of social media. It's time consuming. It breeds comparison & jealousy. It's a playground for bullies and is conducive for starting fights among friends who have different religious & political views. I'm sure I could go on & on. But again, I believe it's mostly good despite all those bad things.
Just like anything else, it's what you make of it. If you decide to go into the darkness that's on you. If you decide to ignore your husband during dinner because you're watching somebody's training video (for example), that's on you.
When I decided to give up social media for lent, I expected there to be a huge profound revelation at the end. Well here we are, it's Easter. I'm waiting..... tick tock tick tock.
Skkkkkkkeeeeeeerrrr hold up. I didn't realllllly give up social media all together. Are you crazy?! I did, however, delete all of the apps off my phone. Bye bye Facebook app. Bye bye my beloved Instagram app. I have Reddit, Twitter & Snapchat but those don't really get me all that excited so those were easy to get rid of. Hello freed up storage space!
Now just being 100% honest, I said I deleted them off my phone..... I didn't say I deleted them out of my life. I kept them on the iPad and allowed myself to peruse when on there or on the computer. I'm not perfect, okay?
The intention was to not have them staring me in the face begging me to click on their cute little icons when I saw those enticing notifications. The intention was also to be more present, more in the moment, more in control, more intentional about my intentions, if that makes any sense. Focus on what's in front of me more. Choose when I do something, not react as soon as one of those cute little notices pops up.
It started off easy. I would get the urge to check the socials on my phone when I was bored or waiting on something & I would remember that I couldn't so I would do something else instead & feel all proud of myself. Then it became annoying and challenging. Then I found myself walking around the house carrying the iPad or spending extra time on the computer. Then I would be all disappointed in myself. Womp womp.
Let me go ahead and say that I grew up Baptist. I didn't even know what lent was until I was an adult. Over the years I've come to realize that lent is not just something we are begrudgingly forced to do. For me, it has become a time to reflect and redirect my focus. I don't just give up something for the sake of giving it up and I don't participate every year. I do it when I'm convicted to do so. Over the past few months (& years since we're being honest here), I've come to rely on social media as a crutch and have neglected other more important things in my life. I've allowed things I've seen on social media to affect my mood and my attitudes towards people. I've allowed it to have control. Soooooo this year God convicted me and I had to do something about it.
But where's the big shot through the heart revelation?? Where's the big tada moment?? It's not really all that grandiose or profound, but it is significant. For me anyway. Stop scrolling, Annie, and start connecting. For real. Not just saying it. Doing it. Sometimes the lesson is just a little tiny whisper and you'll miss it if you're too busy checking your notifications.
You, my friend (my husband, my brother, my momma, my cousin, all of you) are more important than how many likes I get (or don't get) on this post. The time we have to cultivate our relationship is more important than the time I spend scrolling. I make a commitment to you to build our relationship up and to focus on why we are in each other's lives in the first place. If social media helps us do that, good for us. If it doesn't, then we'll find other ways to connect.
Life is about making connections, bridging gaps, building each other up and supporting. Social media helps us do that. Luckily we live in an age where we can connect so easily, but then we let the thing that was built to connect us, disconnect us from the people sitting right in front of us! Crossing over the line into the darkness starts to break all of it down. Let's not let it.
Stay in the Light.
Love you. 
