We live in a world where we need instant gratification. Social media even makes it harder on us by showing the sender not only that we have received the messages sent to us but also read them. It sends messages to our friends, our loved ones, our tormentors that we don’t care what they have to say. We’re too busy having a good time to bother. It’s not true.

Energy killers

Immediately responding to text messages and emails saps energy. I once had a friend who decided that I was his comfort buddy when the girl he was seeing wouldn’t talk to him anymore. He decided he would call me every time he felt like calling her. In the beginning, I was understanding but by day 3 I was losing my mind a little. Calls that went unanswered were met with texts that went unanswered ending with 20 to 30 messages and calls a day. In the end, he was my stalker. We are no longer friends. I snapped. Who wouldn’t.

Boundaries

We need boundaries. We need people to know that we love them, we just can’t take their calls right now. Some of the best holidays I have had have been because no cell phone signal and no access to email meant total and utter silence. The end of the day and a return to wi-fi had let me decide who and what to focus my energy on. Not the demands of modern-day.

Remember the good old days, when the telephone was attached to one room in your house. Quality time meant just that. Time alone with your family. Time alone with yourself.

Never alone

These days, even when we are alone we are surrounded by hundreds of others. Emails, Facebook, Twitter, even you dear readers of my blog. You’re in my mind, listening to my thoughts, thoughts that previously might have been reserved for my diary. There is no such thing as complete silence anymore. When we turn everything off and just enjoy the peace that brings to us.

Maybe it’s time to just switch to silent.

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