Tag: #socialmedia

A Satisfied Life

A job is what you do, while nurturing the dream.

I’ve had a job as a Virtual Assistant for the same company for seven years. It was offered to me around the time I was preparing to leave my marriage. It allows me to stay home with my daughter and support us financially.

I’m happy she was never home alone while I worked, but having this job weakened my face to face people skills. It’s easy to be kind from home.

Social media told me it was okay to stay home. I could use it to touch people. That was disappointing.

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In December I was offered a job at our local Pizzeria. I’ve never worked in a restaurant, or run a cash register. I must not really look the part because people are surprised to see me behind the counter.

Heck, I’m surprised to be behind the counter!

It’s the most fun job I’ve had in a long time.

My past jobs have been serious business. They were performance oriented and I tend to push myself to succeed at what’s in front of me. This is different.

I’m there to be kind. Not overachieve.

sucksess

I’ve been there long enough now where some of the same customers come in, and it’s like seeing family.

The kitchen staff is like family as well.

One of them asked me, “What do you do?”

I gave him my list of skills, helping to run a successful company but he didn’t seem impressed.

On the way out of the kitchen I commented, “And I’m a writer.” He raced out front and said, “Now you have my full attention!” Isn’t that funny?

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It’s only two evenings a week which is perfect.

God pushed me out my front door and into this Pizzeria. I’m in training to be consistently kind. I pray ‘to be kind‘, before walking in the door.

My idea of a successful life, is a satisfied life.

Battery Saving Mode

pexels-photo-733758

In the morning, I unplug my laptop to sit at the coffee table and read, or catch up with friends. 

I use it’s battery as my timer.

Doing things online drains our internal battery along with the laptop.

Right before the battery dies, it gives me a warning and goes into battery saving mode. At that point, I finish what I’m doing and plug it in to recharge.

While it recharges, so can I. 

My daughter and I were standing in line at a restaurant. It’s a very popular one around here, and it was lunchtime. Almost every person in line was scrolling through their phone. It was a sad sight.

How many were in battery saving mode? 

What would happen if we spent that time with the person standing next to us? Engage in conversation, or simply ask, “How are you today”, and really listen. 

This morning, a friend wrote a Blog about social media being draining. That is the biggest time and energy vampire of all. She set boundaries around it, and you can ready her inspiring post here. 

Writing this post used 60% battery, so I wish you a beautiful day! Step away from the screen and enjoy real life. Don’t live in battery saving mode. 

Used by God

I logged back onto my Facebook account.

I’ve been away for 6 months, and didn’t miss it.

When I joined SC Lourie on the November Soul Reset, she sent out an email with an invitation to join a FB group. Being a part of a group allows you to be supportive of others. I’ve been able to do that, but social media doesn’t fulfill me like real life.

This weekend, I saw my first commercial where this guy mows his lawn, and it turns out perfectly. He posts a picture on social media, and receives over 100 likes. He is standing there on his lawn, phone in hand, beaming! Is that what life has come to?

hand thumbs up thumb black and white
Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

Yesterday, I made a conscious effort to help others. While running some errands, I asked God to use me. Walking into the grocery store, I smiled at people, and a few smiled back, while others looked away.

Once in the checkout line, a lady pulled up behind me in a motorized shopping cart. The front basket was filled to the brim, and I asked if she wanted help unloading it. She hesitated before saying ‘yes’.

As we were unloading her items onto the conveyor belt, I noticed she was moving very quickly, like she couldn’t get it done fast enough. I touched her arm, and said, “Slow down lovely. I’m in no hurry at all.” She smiled in relief and thanked me for my help.

After the grocery store, I went to buy firewood.

pile of wood logs
Photo by Luka Siemionov on Pexels.com

This girl in her 20’s came out to meet me, and we talked about multiple options of how much wood. She ‘liked’ my jacket, and I ‘liked’ hers, so while loading the wood we talked about jackets. I followed her inside the store, and paid for the wood.

Before leaving, I reached over and gave her a hug.

She hugged me back tightly. I don’t recall ever being hugged that enthusiastically by a stranger. She needed that hug. Thank you God for using me.

Giving Me Practice

I went shopping yesterday and left my phone at home. It was intentional, just to check myself and make sure it didn’t bother me, and it didn’t.

I spent years addicted to my phone.

The day I deactivated my Facebook accounts was the day they congratulated me for spending six years with them. They sent a notification, and I was mortified. Six years, and what did I have to show for it?

Thank you for all of your kind comments on my Blog posts recently. They absolutely terrify me.

It takes time for me to respond, because I still overthink the response. I don’t have the WordPress app on my phone, so I don’t receive immediate notification. I let notifications run my life for years.

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing things with you that took a long time to admit. It may look like Blogging tips, but for me it was painful lessons.

It’s not even about me, it’s about the lessons, and being used by God to prevent someone else from going through the same heartache. It’s by God’s grace that I’m able to sit here and share. Palms sweaty and hands shaking along the keyboard.

I don’t realize all the activity on my Blog without the app. Two or three times a day, I open my laptop, logon to this site, and see that you have visited.

I read the Blogs in my Reader, and love on others. It’s natural to give love, and leave comments on what you write, but I stare at the screen in awe when that same love and kindness is returned.

Sometimes I don’t know what to say, so I just ‘like’ the comment, and come back later to respond. I don’t know how people do it that have 100’s of comments a day. I would be so overwhelmed.

I enjoy living a calm, quiet life, but to live that way, I turn off all notifications, and my phone is usually in another room of the house. I’m not quite ready to tell you exactly how bad it got with 6 social media accounts giving me a feeling of importance.

Wow. That slipped out.

I don’t run my Blog in the normal way, because if I did, it would begin to run me. Thank you for your love and kindness, and taking time to comment.

It’s becoming less terrifying with every response, and you are giving me practice.

Feel the Music

In the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of loving two men. I don’t talk about it much, but love has been on my mind this weekend, as you can see from yesterday’s post.

Social media teaches us it’s all about the numbers. Once I realized that, it was a sad day seeing numbers, instead of souls. All of my accounts are now closed except for one.

When I began this Blog it was for a couple of reasons.

One-I wanted my daughter to have a place to go, and read about our life together. Two-I wanted to change somebody’s perspective on life. Not the world, just one.

There is a comment sitting in my comment folder that I will not publish, but this Blog changed her world. There is an email sitting in my Inbox from the son of a dear friend. He found this Blog, and was impacted when I wrote about her.

Hearing this song made me think of those men. It was love that changed their world, and loving them changed mine.

I love to love. That’s what I do. One Blog post at a time.

Plug Into Life

I’m really trying to plug into this little community.

That means leaving the house, and making myself visible.

After moving here, my daughter announced, “Hey Mom. You can always go hang out with the bikers on the weekends!”

Now, it’s one of my favorite things to do. A restaurant called Rolling Thunder Roadhouse is less than a mile from my home, and I go there often to sit and read, or engage in conversation. The owner’s Roger and Donna have pretty much adopted me. Roger is a French Chef, and his wife Donna has done a little bit of everything. We had an instant connection, plus, they make the best cold brew coffee!

roger
Cold brew and Chocolate Biscotti. On my way!

When my daughter and I moved here in January, I was pondering what should come with me. Do I really want to continue doing everything this year, in this new chapter, that I had been doing last year? Was it a fruitful path?

I had a job offer last week. It would still be working from home, but the company would have their calls forwarded for me to answer the calls. The owner knows I have phone skills, and will pay good money for them. A friend of mine busted out laughing when I told her my initial response.

I don’t know. I think I want to harvest seeds from the Hydrangea flower, and grow them to sell to my neighbors.

The company didn’t really have a response to that. Haha

Don’t sweat it lovelies. I’m going to go speak with them in person today. For me it really is about face to face. When I typed the first sentence of this post, is sounded like I was referring to the WordPress community, but I continued on.

I love this community, but over time I find myself letting go of virtual community. My phone still has no social media apps on it, and I’ve closed all my accounts except Facebook. I came across a Blog this morning that explains the technology addiction perfectly. You can read it here.

Do I want to continue Blogging? That has been the big question this year. I’ve posted more this week, than I posted the entire month of April. January through April, I posted one a week, and that used to be daily, so there’s progress.

Maybe I will go see Roger and Donna this morning, and take a book I’ve been reading with me. It’s a gorgeous day outside, and I just want to be out there, instead of in here.

It’s time to unplug from the computer, and plug into life.

“Technology is an option, not a lifeline.” The Robot Rebel

My Kinda Midlife

I was spending way too much time sitting at my desk.

Now, I’m pondering selling my desk. What changed? I did.

begin

Today, I attended a class about Ayurveda. Yesterday, I attended an ‘Adult Children of Alcoholics‘ meeting, and Saturday I’m learning how to make a smudge stick.

How did I get to where I am today? I began months ago.

Since moving out of the country, and into civilization, there are endless opportunities to plug-in. I saw signs that God had me right where He wanted me, but oh, this little prayer!

“”What do I want to do?’ can be, “Dear God, what would you have me do?”

One thing leads to another. One conversation with the right person leads to another conversation with another person.

Stepping away from social media has me stepping out of my house each day.

This is my kinda midlife. Marianne Williamson writes,

“At midlife, you suddenly see an endgame where you used to see an endless stretch. You know now on a visceral level that this lifetime will not go on forever. There’s no more time for five-year detours. No more time for getting it wrong. No more time for relationships that don’t serve, or for staying in situations that aren’t authentically you.”

How do you want to spend the rest of your life?

(Feel free to respond in the comment section below)