Are you frequently on the Internet? Do you watch Netflix on your Roku or use Wi-Fi for your entertainment? Is your home office or employment heavily dependent on the Information Superhighway? Is your child or yourself forever on the smartphone? If your answer to any or all of these questions is yes, then you are probably suffering from a condition I call Wificolonitis. Excess dependence on the "online" experience may warrant a painful withdrawal procedure called a Wifiectomy. In all seriousness, our time willingly spend on the Internet is increasing exponentially.
Recently, many people in my geographic area went without the Internet for about 24 hours. Whether it was due to service maintenance or towers down really doesn't matter. For most people, myself included, this became annoying from the start. Where's my news! Where's my entertainment! Did Hillary convert to ISIS? Did Donald play the Trump on national news? Did Ms. (or Mr.) Jenner take a miracle pill and decide to go back to the manly life? Did the Kardashians join the Amish community? It was an immediate withdrawal that almost left the individual in a hungered frenzy for satisfaction.
However, once you get past the contention in your heart there was a valuable lesson to be learned in this experience.
Looking back on my own childhood I remember adventures walking the train tracks or building forts in the woods. Heck, in grade school my buddy (Jesse) and I used to crawl up the old fire escape tube of our school. To demonstrate our manliness we scaled the bricks all the way around the building. I miss going to a nearby hay barn and jumping around on hay bales thirty feet up. As a teenager, well, let's just say that I was a complete angel without any complication or desire for mischief......
By and large these active youthful activities are becoming extinct due to the addiction of the online experience. During this 24 hour period people got bored and went to bed early that first night. However, gradually there was an increase in outdoor traffic as people were awakened to the reality that there is sun outside and that the grass is really neat to walk on. Still annoyed, whether we admit it or not we realized our over-dependence on the Internet and silently was grateful for the opportunity to "reset."
This will be a short post. I found this experience important and interesting. When we come across inspired occasions we should be willing to record it and share it. As we grow the callous on our thumbs while texting or develop carpel tunnel while typing on our laptop or Chromebook, let's do so with a degree of responsibility and moderation. The human body was designed for activity and growth and not to veg endlessly in search for useless dialogue and satisfaction.
Ok, now to post this on Twitter and Facebook......
Recently, many people in my geographic area went without the Internet for about 24 hours. Whether it was due to service maintenance or towers down really doesn't matter. For most people, myself included, this became annoying from the start. Where's my news! Where's my entertainment! Did Hillary convert to ISIS? Did Donald play the Trump on national news? Did Ms. (or Mr.) Jenner take a miracle pill and decide to go back to the manly life? Did the Kardashians join the Amish community? It was an immediate withdrawal that almost left the individual in a hungered frenzy for satisfaction.
However, once you get past the contention in your heart there was a valuable lesson to be learned in this experience.
Looking back on my own childhood I remember adventures walking the train tracks or building forts in the woods. Heck, in grade school my buddy (Jesse) and I used to crawl up the old fire escape tube of our school. To demonstrate our manliness we scaled the bricks all the way around the building. I miss going to a nearby hay barn and jumping around on hay bales thirty feet up. As a teenager, well, let's just say that I was a complete angel without any complication or desire for mischief......
By and large these active youthful activities are becoming extinct due to the addiction of the online experience. During this 24 hour period people got bored and went to bed early that first night. However, gradually there was an increase in outdoor traffic as people were awakened to the reality that there is sun outside and that the grass is really neat to walk on. Still annoyed, whether we admit it or not we realized our over-dependence on the Internet and silently was grateful for the opportunity to "reset."
This will be a short post. I found this experience important and interesting. When we come across inspired occasions we should be willing to record it and share it. As we grow the callous on our thumbs while texting or develop carpel tunnel while typing on our laptop or Chromebook, let's do so with a degree of responsibility and moderation. The human body was designed for activity and growth and not to veg endlessly in search for useless dialogue and satisfaction.
Ok, now to post this on Twitter and Facebook......
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