“Ditch social media and my T.V for a week… What?”
Yes, this can seem hard or maybe even easy to think at the beginning “sure I can do it.” Until you go through the phases of the detox and the low and high roller coaster of emotions and then you begin to realize how addicting social media and the T.V is and that’s exactly why a detox should begin.
Taking your freedom back
Most people don’t even realize the addiction this causes; but hours and days go by where you spend less time on yourself, with your family and friends and spend it more with a pocket screen or a T.V and suddenly time has gone by so fast and you had wished to have more of it. Most of us are wishing for more time, or ways to enjoy our time that we can easily forget that life is out there waiting to be enjoyed and experienced.
Our personal freedom is soon out the door, but maybe it’s now time to re-think about the dependency you have on your phone and the T.V.
Now, I’m not saying to completely ditch social media out of your life, but I think it would be an interesting self-experiment to step back away from something you use plenty of, to maybe even realize how much time that takes up in your day-to-day living.
There can be ways to have both time for yourself and time to see what’s being posted or what is going on around the world, but after spending hours staring into the T.V or seeing the recent updates, will start to mentally drain you, but there’s the power to choose, and you can choose to gain your freedom back.
Here are 5 reasons why you should ditch social media and detox from an artificial life to move into your own real one
It’s not your real life. It may feel strange to stop doing something you’re always doing, but this is simply because the lenses through which you see your world, is being dictated by the inclination that you have to your phone and T.V, that’s why it’s easy to get brainwashed by all the media that’s around you. All the social feeds fills our brain and then, we start seeing this as our reality. We start choosing less from ourselves and more from other’s lives.
Time to love yourself. With so much comparison that’s going around, it’s no wonder that self-love is so strange to understand. Through every picture on social media a new meaning of the word “perfect” , “beautiful”, and more is being defined, and when your picture or the reflection you see in the mirror, doesn’t add up to that expectation, your self-esteem goes down. By constantly comparing yourself to the person who just posted a picture or the way they look on T.V, there are less chances of you shining as you already are, feeling confident and proud in your own skin.
Letting moments just pass you by. Memories are always being created, and if we are constantly checking our phones to see who updated what, or what happened in a show.. birthday parties, family dinners, and dates can be missed. It’s the simple pleasures in life that can make life more fulfilling, to feel love, joy by spending time with the ones we love or by doing an activity you simply enjoy, instead of looking for these feelings inside a phone or through a movie and/or a show.
Getting back to creativity. With all the energy phones and T.V drains out of us, there’s less time to feel motivated to create and complete our goals and dreams. By taking time back for yourself, inspiration can rise again, allowing you to see what it is you’d like to accomplish, the type of careers, studies or simple activities that allow you to unwind and relax.
Gaining back control. When was the last time you completed your tasks and/or to-do lists on time without procrastinating them? Social media and the T.V can be an easy distraction and get in the way of managing our time. Instead of making more time, we are wasting it on something that doesn’t matter compared to what does. It is much easier to get tasks done without the over usage of social media and the T.V and even getting back control on your sleep, having a nice rest and not thinking about that news, or what will happen the next day with the show.
A week is a good time length to have this detox in my personal opinion, but if you’re enjoying the process you can extend this to more than a week and enjoy this for yourself! Sometimes being disconnected from other’s lives can help you gain back your own and maybe allow you to see what it is that you’re missing, that you keep searching for online.
Moments are passing us by, there’s a life out there that’s waiting for you to explore it, but most people have come to realize that seeing other’s lives, and the way some people portray a living, is a better commitment to do than to live your own.
I personally did this experiment for two weeks. I was flying to Costa Rica for a month, coming from the states and I decided, it’s time to connect to myself and disconnect from the media world. It was one of the best choices I’ve made, I had a phone, but with no wi-fi and no T.V’s around me. If I can put it any better, it was clear guidance back to my true, authentic self. While I was walking around in nature, I was surrounded by others being glued on their phone, now that I wasn’t part of that, I wondered what if we all tried this detox at least once in our life?
“Do it now! can affect every phase of your life. It can help you do the things you should do but don’t feel like doing. It can keep you from procrastinating when an unpleasant duty faces you. But it can also help you do those things that you want to do. It helps you seize those precious moments that, if lost, may never be retrieved.” ~Napoleon Hill
Have you tried to ditch social media or TV before? Share your experience in the comments below!
About The Author
Born in Colombia, raised in Florida with a mind full of curiosity on spirituality and how to make the world a better place. Nicole has been practicing yoga since she was 16 years old, ever since she’s wanted to expand her yoga practice which has turned into her ultimate passion. She went to Costa Rica where her practice got deeper and now being a certified yoga instructor, still in Costa Rica, as a writer/blogger and finishing her studies on holistic health. Growing up in a household and group of friends full of support and love is what has allowed her to achieve her dreams and to continue to be where she currently is. Expressing her passions with yoga, writing, health and nature through social media wanting to spread her passion throughout the world, one picture and one message at a time.
