Happy New Year to my family, friends, and faithful readers. I hope that you all enjoyed a peaceful and beautiful holiday season and I hope that you were able to be present in each moment. In my last blog, I wrote about Christmas time being hard for many people. This year was no different. Many people I talked to this Christmas struggled. They struggled with grief and loss. They struggled with money. They struggled with time. They struggled with guilt. They struggled with family. Maybe we struggle more during what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year because of the expectations we set for ourselves around it. This Christmas, I decided to do something important for my mental health. December 23, 2022 was the last time I signed on to social media for the year.

Why was giving up social media during Christmas time so important for my mental health? Here is what I recently told a friend… I said that no matter how happy I am and no matter how great of a Christmas I am having, seeing someone else’s moments does something funny to my brain. That actually sounded better in my head so let me try to explain that a little bit better. In my family, in my fire family, we don’t have a typical schedule and at this point in my life, I have not only come to terms with that, but I accept it and I am good with that. My hubby has worked more Christmas Eve’s since we have had kids than any other holiday. At first it bummed me out, big time. It was hard to see families all sitting together at church. It was hard to see pictures of families on Christmas Eve all in their matching pajamas. It was hard because our family wasn’t complete with him not with us. This year was no different, as he was scheduled to be on Christmas Eve, and even though I am ok and accepting of that schedule, I knew scrolling through social media would put me in a bad place.

So, here I am two weeks later and I have not logged back on or spent a single second scrolling. I’ve been filling my mind and my time with so many other things that my life was lacking when I was mindlessly scrolling. I’ve been bringing a book with me anytime there’s a chance I have extra time and I love spending this time reading! I’ve been crafting, playing video games with Logan, watching The Middle with Christopher, playing cards with Evan, going to the gym with Kenny, baking, cooking, writing, all undistracted and uninterrupted by social media. I made a declaration to my people during Christmas break as my teens scrolled and scrolled. I told them that I was going to live my life and not watch other people live theirs. I need social media boundaries in my life. Life is busy enough, I don’t need hours of screens sucking away at my precious time. Social media isn’t all bad, in fact it is great when used appropriately, but at the current time, I’m not really sure what that looks like and for me it is terribly addicting. So, as I enter this new year and I think about my resolutions, one of them is to use my time better. Even without social media, it is a struggle, life is just so busy, all of the time. But even in these first few days of 2023, I feel like I am doing something important, laying the ground work for my future and setting an example for my family. I don’t want to live to watch others live, I have so many things I want to do. And I know there are plans that God has for me and for my future. If my mind is always filled with pictures and stories of what everyone else is doing, I might miss a greater calling for my life. I am not giving up social media, like I said, it is not all bad, but I am going to learn how to use it in moderation, looking for the positives and usefulness of these platforms.

What are your resolutions for 2023? Do you struggle with social media as I do? I would love to hear what you have done or what you plan to do to help yourself in this area.

PS- I will be posting this to my social media on Facebook and Instagram. It will be a challenge not to scroll, but here goes!

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