I sadly believe that many people today will reach the end of their lives and regret living years of it on social media. Spending just one hour on social media a day will amount to approximately three years of your life (from age 13 to 80). Two to three hours — six to eight years. Four or more hours — eleven or more years!
Everyone’s jaw drops when I tell them we can now die with more memories of other people’s lives than our own. Yes, this fact should terrify everyone of us! Let me make my case: scrolling for two and a half hours a day can amount to viewing over 100 million visual posts (videos, photos, graphics) over 60 years. Pictures and videos imprint on our brains far more powerfully than unrecorded moments. So our minds can be more filled with details and moments from the lives of friends, strangers, influencers and celebrities instead of the beautiful moments from our own. Yuck!
I am determined to reach the end of my life and replay beautiful moments from my own life, not the intimate moments of others. I want my mind to be filled with scenes of time with family, friends, special celebrations and outdoor adventures. I don’t want my mind to be filled with fitness influencers in matching leggings and sports bras showing off their abs and toned bodies, or the latest drama between a celebrity couple. I consider that and insult to the God who gave me my precious, irreplacable life.
Here are 10 things I do to make sure my mind is more full of moments from my life rather than others:
1. Take one photo a day of a beautiful moment that sparks joy
2. Play a digital slideshow that loops the bests memories of my life so I can see them every day
3. Don’t follow any celebrities or strangers who document their lives
4. Don’t look at the search and explore section of Instagram
5. Only look at a few of my close friend’s stories and do it rarely
6. Limit my time on social media to an average of 1 or less hours a week and use it intentionally
7. Don’t go on social media on the weekends (unless I post content I made to inspire others)
8. Don’t take vertical videos, but always film them horizontally so I can make home videos for my husband and I to watch in the nursing home!
9. Look at more photos and videos of my own life and of the people I love than of others
10. Make physical photo albums and look through them several times a year
I intentionally don’t share many personal photos online, because I want people, girls and women especially not to compare their lives to mine. Instead I like to post to uplift them and inspire them to get offline so they can live their best lives to the fullest without regrets. This is my hope for you too. I do enjoy sharing some personal photos on my blog, however, I consider my readers more like friends, but if they cause comparisons, log off and go do something you love.
I hope these practical tips will help you savor the gift of your precious life. I hope you’ll live wide awake to your own life and fall asleep to the lives of others. While there are many great things about it, social media is a world we were not designed to live in. Your best life will never be found on your phone. A life of joy, peace, and contentment awaits us when we unfollow the ways of the world and follow the ways of God.
If you want to overcome your addiction to or unhealthy relationship with social media, and live your best life offline, you’ll love my book Social Media Reset: A 30-Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God, and Reclaim Your Joy. And then invite all the girls and women in your life to join you!
I can’t wait for you to return to life as it was intended to be lived!
Action: Take a photo a day that captures a beautiful moment. Look at it for 10 seconds so it is imprinted on your brain.
With Joy,
Allie
P.S. This was a precious moment with Paul from our Big Sur Camping trip this summer.
