At the beginning of these 21 Days of Prayer, I started thinking about what I should fast (something that challenges you and, if removed from your life, would cause you to spend more time with God). Social Media kept coming to my mind, but I made all kinds of excuses as to why I couldn’t fast it. But during last week’s Sunday service, Pastor Chris challenged the whole church to go off of social media for a week. His point was that what we put into our mind has a bigger influence on us then we thing. I saw this as a confirmation that I needed to “log off” of social media, so I gladly took on the break for a week. Sunday night, I deleted all the social media apps off my phone.
I actually found my life to feel more full without social media lighting up my phone every minute of the day. I took photos at my own pace and enjoyed my days with Aaron and Rylie having my full attention. And those “quick” times I would spend checking social media was now used to pray or just be fully present in whatever was going on – it was a refreshing and noticeable change.
Plus, I didn’t realize how much pressure I put on myself to keep everyone up to date on what was going on. Everyone loves Rylie, and, understandably, wants to see pictures of her on a regular basis. But it was nice to have experiences and take photos that I had all to myself for a few days. To cherish a moment as it happened and not turn around and post it thinking that everyone had to be there as well. It was nice to keep so many moments between just Aaron and I – like Rylie laughing for the first time <3
In the spirit of reprioritizing my life, I reevaluated what social media platforms I used (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest mainly) and picked my personal favorite and didn’t redownload the others.
I have now returned to social media but I’ll be mainly posting on Instagram & ditching all the other platforms (except my blog). I’ll go on Facebook when I’m on my computer, but otherwise, follow me on Instagram to stay up to date.
–> @rylieshaver
There is so much more to life then just social media, and I appreciate you guys understanding and respecting my decision 🙂