My day today represents:

Valentine’s Day
Thirty-first wedding anniversary
Ash Wednesday

Love is in each of these occasions. It is love that inspires the next question:

How do we cultivate a significant non-work identity and a daily practice to disengage with that which wastes our day and to regulate our emotions for a greater sense of control, mastery and meaning in life?

I try to make it a daily practice to meditate, pray, and journal. Living involves pain. As Ernest Hemingway stated, “We are all broken. That’s how the light gets in.” This daily practice is how I allow the light to come in. If I give up when life is not going well in mind, body, or spirit, I never learn to trust God. I cannot love anyone or life fully. I used the word “try” because lately I have allowed other activities to waste my day and modulate my emotions to being out of control. I have become too comfortable in activities and overthinking kills happiness. Period.

“Comfort is the worst addiction.” Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, and Stoic philosopher

I have become too comfortable with my addictions. One of those addictions is scrolling social media reading both the posts and the comments on those posts. Social media is an escape into conversations, nonsense, and too much information all which is long on anger, dishonesty, and stupidity rather than newsworthy, genuine entertainment, and persuasiveness. The escape that bounces quickly from one social media post or app results in unwittingly hours of wasted time and brain cells.

“The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.” Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, and Stoic philosopher

Beginning today through March 31, 2024, I am taking a sabbatical from all social media. I am ignoring the apps totally for the Lenten season through Easter. I am doing this for several reasons.

Ditching social media to concentrate on my physical health.

I have been consumed by overthinking of a pending life-altering surgery with an anticipated difficult and long recovery. I am not done with this life and this experience has made me realize how I spend my days. Isn’t that the way it goes for many people? As we face a health diagnosis like cancer or in my situation, a cancer and now potentially a second one, I wonder why it takes this situation to face our non-work identity to figure out how to master a meaningful life?

Ditching social media to re-establish the daily practice of disenging for a calm mind.

My daily practice of journaling has taken a haphazard backseat to overthinking, scrolling media, indulging in streaming services. None of these wasteful activities has brought me closer to a meaningful life. I have been replacing a calm mind with the busyness of pushing what is painful or praiseworthy with the comfort of pajamas and electronics. Why do we fall into these traps when we just want relief from our daily life? Why do we prefer blurry eyes to closing them to meditate or pray? It is easier to pick up our phones than a pen. It is easier to step into slippers than walking shoes.

Ditching social media to build up my spirit for an active life.

At the end of these next 40-plus days of not accessing social media, I will still be physically recovering from surgery, however, that doesn’t mean an inactive life. While I am ditching social media, I will be trying to ditch the overthinking and streaming comforts. What does the spirit mean? What is it? How do we access the spirit within us? These questions often arise in our work identity pain, but what about our non-work identity?

Love

I will end this post with love.

“The love that you withhold is the pain that you carry.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet, and American Essayist

This Emerson quote has resonated with me over the years. Ditching social media will hopefully help me in some measure to finding the answers over the next 40 plus days in mind, body, and spirit to love fully and gain a greater sense of control, mastery and meaning.

In closing, Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone whether you celebrate the day or not – celebrate you. Love to those who celebrate the Lenten season and Easter. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life, Vinny Sal.

Peace,

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