Are you ready?
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Ready? Set. Go.
Is your phone the first thing you reach for each morning? Is checking email the first work-related activity you do each day? Do you grab your phone to check something quickly and then find yourself engulfed by it for an hour or more? Do you reach for your phone every time you have a spare minute in line at the grocery store, at a stoplight, in the waiting room at the doctor's office? How do you feel if you leave your phone behind at home or in the car? What emotions rise up in you in these situations? How would you feel if your spouse or best friend had access to your phone and was able to see and read everything?
Welcome back to Best Christmas Ever, where we're exploring 28 ways to make this Christmas amazing for you, your loved ones, and strangers who cross your path. Number 23 is technology fasting. Is it possible to have a healthy long-term relationship with your phone, one that leaves you feeling good about yourself and the way you spend time together? Is your phone making you smarter or dumber? Is your phone bringing you relaxation and happiness or stress and anxiety? If your best friend was dating someone who made her feel the way your phone makes you feel, would you advise your friend to break up with that person?
You might not need to break up with your phone, but you might need a break and a reset. These questions only scrape the tip of the iceberg. The issues that technology have ushered into our lives are significant. But to understand just how significant, I propose a technology fast. One day, two days, three days, you decide. No phone or computer. You will be amazed how difficult it is, and you will be astonished how differently you feel once you get over the withdrawal symptoms. You will think more clearly. You will be more decisive and make better decisions. You will have better conversations. Your relationships will feel completely different. It's time for a technology fast or, perhaps, just a phone fast. You decide. By fasting, you may realize that you need a new relationship with technology. You may decide you need new habits when it comes to your phone. Just try it. Pick a time to start and finish and commit. Our lives change when our habits change, and fasting brings clarity to our hearts and minds so that we can see what new habits we need. This technology fast will change your life, transform your relationships, and help you to have your best Christmas ever.
Wait, before you go, my dad has one more tip, and you're not going to want to miss this.
It's not easy to have a great Christmas in a world where everyone is striving for what isn't worth having. Welcome back to 28 obstacles that will prevent you from having your best Christmas ever. Obstacle number 23 is gluttony. Over the next month, there will be so much food and drink on offer. Enjoy, but don't overindulge. Overindulging robs us of joy. Overindulging turns pleasure into discomfort and pain, not just physical discomfort and pain, but emotional discomfort and pain, psychological discomfort and pain, and spiritual discomfort and pain. When we overindulge, the head trash gets talking to us. And those voices lead us to places of disappointment, unhappiness, and self-loathing. Indulge, by all means. Christmas is a feast to be enjoyed. To indulge means to allow yourself to experience and enjoy the pleasure. Indulge. Just be wary of overindulging. But remember, find your joy, guard your joy, follow your joy, not just happiness. It seems our culture has confused happiness with comfort. And following comfort will lead you to misery. Find your joy, cherish your joy, guard your joy, and follow your joy.
Do you feel too busy, overwhelmed, stressed? You aren't alone. A sense of joyless urgency is dominating our culture. The sheer speed and busyness we have adopted isn't how life was intended to be lived. It's time for a new strategy. It's time to slow down to the speed of joy. Right now, when you become a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador, we will send you a free copy of Slowing Down to the Speed of Joy. So click the button below and join today.
Have a great day!
