The Abundant Life Experiment - Part 1

Time. We all want more of it. As I lay here in bed early in the morning on my dream vacation in Hawaii with my dear husband of 10 years, I keep thinking how I wish we had more than a week for our vacation. A fault of mine for sure – wishing for things I don’t have instead of enjoying what I do. I have been thinking about this for months and have come to the obvious conclusion – I can never get more time.

In the words of a wise fictional character, “All you have to decide is what to do with the time given to you.”

We decided on a theme for 2012 as a family – “Living the Abundant Life” based on this talk by the president of our church, President Monson. Basically, focusing on the most important things in life and simplifying everything. Making the most of the time given to us. See where I am going here?

For starters, I am disabling my Facebook account for at least the next 3 months as part of my “Abundant Life” experiment. I am a believer in Social Media. I have a Masters in technology for crying out loud. I love being able to know what all of my friends near and far are doing. Be a part of their lives. Share the triumphs of my life, post cute pictures of my kids and ask for advice. There are so many positive things to Facebook that I love. However, I know I am addicted. I waste so much time during the day checking my blasted iPhone. Time I could be teaching Elisabeth to read, singing with Carsten, blogging, doing laundry, learning new talents, keeping up-to-date with educational news or heaven forbid – reaching out to my friends and family IN PERSON. I realized we rarely call some of Lance’s siblings because I feel I know how they are doing based on their Facebook posts. Something about this lack of personal contact saddens me.

This isn’t a decision I made lightly. I have thought about it and even attempted it in the past. I have been feeling prompted for months the need to remove the clutter in my life and focus on what is most important. My family, my friends, my spirituality, and my mental and physical health.

So, if you need to get a hold of me, I will be happy to send you my contact info. Please just leave a comment and I will pass it along. Let the experiment begin!