So lately I’ve just been feeling yucky.

Sometimes I go through periods of several weeks…sometimes months where I spend so much time on social media or on my phone in general that I find myself so dissatisfied with the reality of my own life.

A personal goal of mine this year, which quickly turned into an obsession, was to grow my social media following. I never understood the amount of time and effort it took into growing a social media platform, the answer to that is…A LOT. Pretty soon my iPhone was sending me updates of my screen time for the day…11 hours. Y’all, I was spending ten plus hours a day trying to obtain the picture-perfect Instagram theme. What the heck!

Instagram and Pinterest have been my two greatest addictions these last couple of years. Pinterest is great because it provides inspiration on how to make your life look as perfect as the images you find on its’ website, and Instagram because of how addicting it can be to find the right filter to make your life appear as perfect as those Pinterest photos are.

I don’t know about anyone else, but it honestly just becomes exhausting sometimes. And when you take a step back you realize how FAKE it all is.

I am in no way trying to say that all social media is evil.

I am no in no way trying to say that social media can’t be used for good.

But I think it is crucial that we monitor both the time we spend on social media and every now and then check what our intentions with those platforms are.

When I spend lots of time on social-media I quickly find myself scrolling for hours through photos. Photos that make me compare my current situation to someone else’s. This can and usually does eventually lead to envy and an overall feeling of ingratitude for the life God has given me. And if this behavior of mine is left unchecked for too long I find myself almost feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety and dread.

There’s actually a lot of research that has been performed on both the psychological and physical addictive properties of social media. Social media platforms are designed in such a way that they light up the same parts of the brain that addictive substances do.

So not only does social media cause dissatisfaction with our own lives, we can truly become addicted to these platforms.

I don’t think the dangers stop there. When we spend hours and hours each week scrolling on our phones, we are not truly present in the reality of what’s going on around us. It’s always so interesting to see groups of people get together and they are all on their phones. No one is present with one another. I’ve noticed this in myself. When I’m caught up in trying to be on my phone, I become impatient when someone tries to have a conversation with me. How sad is that? I truly wonder how many relationships have suffered because of smart phones and social media addictions. It sounds a little dramatic I know. But I think social media does much more harm than we all care to admit.

I don’t know about you all but I’m a little tired of living this way…if one could really call scrolling through social media all day long living.

I don’t want to waste the time God has given me on this earth scrolling on my stupid phone.

I don’t want to take the real-life relationships with those God has given me for granted by choosing social media time over time with them.

I don’t want to constantly walk around envious or simply feeling that my life isn’t as picture perfect as someone else’s.

Guys, social media is NOT reality!

I challenge you all to really limit your social media time. Like really, only check and update it one to two times a week. Believe it or not there is life outside of perpetually updating your Insta story! I’ve fallen into this trap for so long and when I actually say no to my phone it amazes me how happy I become. It’s easier to feel grateful for even the little things in life when I’m not constantly distracted by social media.

Go call a friend and grab coffee. Go play a game with your family. Go bake a recipe you’ve always wanted to try. Go paint a picture. Go ride a horse. Go for a walk. Go read a book. Go snuggle with your pets. Go visit your grandparents. Go volunteer. Go get involved with a local ministry.

Go spend time with The One who loves you beyond measure and has blessed you with all the wonderful gifts in your life. How sad would it be to be at the end of our lives and think of how much time was wasted online?

We were built for communion with others, to work hard, and use our talent and treasures to serve one another. Social Media provides a false sense of accomplishing these things. Jesus doesn’t care how cute or holy your Insta is. He cares how well you spent the time He gave you on this earth.

So, please my friends, especially as we approach the holiday season, let’s set our phones down and be present to the people and events that are happening right before us. I don’t doubt that you’ll be amazed at how much you will grow in gratitude this season!

Pax, Gabi