Unplugged

I've just spent the last two weeks without an internet connection or cable TV and believe it or not..... I survived, ha ha. I have been getting bored with the constantly repeating television programs and the time wasted on Facebook so my unplugged state came at a perfect time. I was ready for a change. So, what did I spend my free time doing instead? I read four books, went for walks, played games with the family and spent time having conversations, all things that I hadn't been doing lately and I found I have missed out on a lot.

It's easy to get caught in a rut of doing the same things over and over again so much so that we miss out on things that are really important. We have to guard our family time from those things that will steal it away. I have spoken to many people who tell me that they go on their computer 'just to check' their 'email' and the next thing they realize their whole evening has been consumed with Facebook or games or other diversions which have taken them away from their families.

When my sister's children were small and she was home schooling them, she would often have what she called 'Little House on the Prairie' days. She would take a whole day and wouldn't use electricity so that the kids would understand how people once lived. They would play games together and spend the entire day together having fun the old fashioned way. It was a time of making memories for them.

Our family is a busy family, each doing their own thing and even though all five of us are often in the living room together, all five of us will be on our computers and rarely talk. When that happens and we realize the rut we have fallen into, we quickly unplug and spend some time together. These past two weeks have been good for all of us. We realized that while television is nice and a computer helpful, they are not necessary... family time is. Let me encourage you to unplug every now and then and enjoy some simpler pleasures like reading, playing games and having conversations with those you love.