Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Love it & Hate it Part 1: Technology

I’ve been in Maine for a few days now on summer vacation. My family comes up here to our lake house for three weeks every summer. It’s peaceful and relaxing here- we have no internet access and only one channel on the TV. While I’ve always loved the change of pace in Maine, this year I realized how totally dependent I’ve become on technology. Even in the past few days, there have been things I wanted to look up online and I miss (a little bit) being able to check Facebook and blogs.

Technology is one of those things I both love and hate at the same time. I love it because I can get information so quickly and easily. I hate it because I can waste so much time on the internet. TV is not as addicting for me. I watch a couple shows a week, but when I’m bored I turn on my computer, not the TV. There’s just so many things I can look up online. I read articles on interesting subjects. I check the weather. I read movie reviews and restaurant reviews. I play online games like “Who wants to be a millionaire”. I chat with friends and send e-mails to people. And I enjoy all this stuff. I like having so much information at my fingertips. I like being able to send my friends a quick message.

But all of this comes at a price. When I waste too much time online, I feel like I’m missing out on life. My real life, the one where I’m actually doing something instead of sitting at a computer. I know that sometimes my time could be better spent. I could read a book, go workout, or do my devotional. I could spend more time with the people in my life at the moment. I don’t want to ignore the world around me because I’d rather spend time in a virtual world. I guess I’ve always been a little wary of technology because I know how addicting it can be for me. I want to learn to limit my time online and find a balance for technology in my life. I want to find more time for other things that I enjoy. I want to live my life to the fullest, and that means not wasting time on trivial things.

I like this quote by Jim Eliot: “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”

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