Unplugging

I have noticed a change in myself over the past several months. I am more easily annoyed, and generally more irritable, or at least I feel like that anyway, even if others haven't really noticed it (no one has said anything). This could be attributed to my crazy schedule (working 80 hours a week, and getting only 5-6 hours of sleep a night has a tendency to make people more irritable :P) However, it started before I started working so much. It seems that the general exhaustion is just bringing out an underlying problem. That problem, I think, is that I am too connected.

Let me explain. When I find myself checking Facebook every 10 minutes to see if there are any notifications, I am too connected. When I  check my e-mail every 20 minutes, or less, to see if I have a new e-mail, I am too connected. When I check my phone every couple of minutes to see if I have missed a text message, I am too connected. All of this is simply creating more stress in my life, not less. When I am so worried about what someone's Facebook status is, or an e-mail that can be answered an hour or two after it is sent, I am too connected. I am too worried about largely insignificant forms of communication, and that tells me I am far too connected.

So I have made a decision. I have now disconnected the 3G on my iPhone. In the next couple of weeks it will be going back to Verizon (funny thing though, I'm actually making money by giving it back to them. Apparently, it's worth more than what I originally paid for it :P) Why Do I need to sell the iPhone back? Perhaps it would be better to use it just as an iPod? The problem with that is that I'll still be on it every time I have a wifi connection. And the whole point is to limit my accessibility to the internet.

I have also made another decision. I'm not paying for internet at my apartment. I have free access in the office, or I can go to Starbucks, or McDonalds. Internet is not so all important for my life right now that I have to have it at my fingertips. So I'm choosing not to.

Instead, I'm choosing to read, and to relax, and to unplug. I'm choosing distance. I'm choosing self. I'm choosing growth, and I'm choosing God. I'm choosing to make those things which are all important the most important. Because all those other things do is steal, and I've chosen not give to them any longer. I'm choosing life. The best life possible. The life that comes with being unplugged.