The UnWired Mom Challenge. I'm in.

Today I had a different post nearly finished and ready to publish. 

I'd planned to dish about the books I'm reading this summer, to joke about how I'm reading too many at a time {as always} and to lament my painfully slow progress through some lovely books I'd sincerely hoped to finish this summer.

But do you know one of the reasons I'm slogging through my pile of books so slowly? 

Because I'm on-line too much.

Don't get me wrong. I love the wonders of the internet:

Locating information that would have previously required a trip to the library or an archive or the moon.

Connecting with far-away friends and family.

Shopping in my pajamas.

Having a platform for my own writing.

But the internet has become our modern-day Siren and it's nearly impossible to escape her constant, luring invitation. She calls to me from my laptop and she calls to me from the palm of my hand. 

Commercials invite me to visit www dot whatever to learn more about their must-have product and cereal boxes invite my kids to play deftly-marketed games on-line. 

Pinterest invites me to get my craft on.

Facebook invites me to see what's going on.

Twitter invites me to feel like I have ADHD on steroids while laughing at clever people and grabbing at more information than a person can realistically process throughout the course of one day.

Instagram invites me to picture life through hazy filters and soft edges and then share it all around.

And all of these things have their perks. They do. They encourage creativity, connection, and community. But too much of anything makes our real lives off-balance and unhealthy and less than what we really want. 

At least it does for me.

This is the challenge for our generation and it may be an even greater challenge for our kids' generation. If I can't live a life with purposeful boundaries regarding on-line usage, I'm setting them up for the same off-kilter existence. 

Please hear me. I'm not trying to be perfect. I'm trying to be more intentional.

And lately, I simply haven't been and it shows. 

It's why I have a stack of unfinished books and why I haven't engaged with my kids enough and why I feel distracted and scattered too much of the time. 

You too? 

Then I invite you to join me as we join others in taking the Unwired Mom 14-day Challenge. 

I hadn't planned to do this. I sort of "stumbled onto it" yesterday and after thinking and praying and talking to my husband about it, I decided to say yes.

Yes to boundaries and real life, freedom and wholeness.

Don't worry, it's not a 14-day internet fast. It's more of a 14-day journey of learning to approach our on-line activity with purpose.

So who's the mommy genius behind this noble endeavor? The lovely Sarah Mae. She's not perfect either. In fact, this challenge was born out of her own story of not living as full and engaged in her own life as she wanted to be.

I don't actually know Sarah Mae and she doesn't know me. She hasn't asked me or paid me to endorse her blog or her e-book. Her own story and message simply resonated with me and maybe it resonates with you too. 

Her invitation came at just the right time and I've come to a place where I'm ready to say yes to saying no.

You can read about the UnWired Mom 14-day Challenge here. You can buy her e-book, The Unwired Mom: Choosing to Live Free in an Internet-Addicted World here. I bought it on Kindle for $4.99. You can buy a pdf version too.

This is not a time-consuming journey but I have a feeling it's going to be time well spent. 

.........................

What are your thoughts about living whole in a world that's always wired?


*The e-book link I provided is my amazon affiliate link.