Txting gets a bad rap.
But kids on their phones also means that less of them are on the Streets smoking, drinking and indulging in risky behavior.
Everyone says we're stuck on our phones with virtual friends and not meeting people in real life, and maybe that's true.
But one thing that Social Media does do, is keep you in touch with people that in the old days you would never have phoned up, or written a letter to.
Facebook Friends
People like school friends who I would not go out with in real life, or invite to my house for dinner, but our virtual relationships on Facebook, mean we keep in touch and can catch up and share embarrassing class photos from our School days.
One of my Facebook friends from school has always been a real social butterfly, and mentioned to me that she was thinking about having a 50th birthday party next year - I replied that I was thinking about having a 40th next year!
I was going to say I was celebrating the decade I lost between 39 and 49!
She eventually decided to have a 49th birthday party this year, and there is the proof that Social Media is a "double edged sword."
Time
As I'm now in my 50th year, I've been thinking about time.
Time has a flip side too.
Time is my enemy and my friend.
It's my enemy when I'm down and my friend when I'm happy.
Like Einstein proved, the speed of time is relative - the garbage days seem to drag on while the great days are over in a flash!
Like the Adam Sandler movie, "Click," have you ever wished for a "Time Remote Control" where you could speed up the difficult days times and slow down the good ones?
And wouldn't it be great to be able to go back in time and hang out with people who have gone, or go back to when the kids were little … ?
Yes we both know that’s impossible, but perhaps time isn't the problem?
Maybe it's my attachment to wanting to feel good?
I have always had an interest in the causes and symptoms of addiction.
Ten years ago I designed a Stop Smoking Course and I'm in the middle of repurposing it to cover any compulsive behavior.
The problem with addicts is not the booze, the pill bottle, the pizza or the crack pipe.
The problem is addicts want to escape pain and feel good.
An alcoholic told me once, that he started drinking to feel "buzzed," but that now he drinks just to feel normal.
You start because you want to feel good, and you keep going because you don't want to feel bad.
So, if I was ok with feeling good and ok with feeling sad, the difficult days wouldn't be so hard.
And if I could deepen my capacity to feel sadness, I would also increase my capacity for happiness.
Life Is Like A Rollercoaster.
You can't have the high's without the low's, and if you can accept them both you can sit back and enjoy the ride!
I like the sound of that.
So I'm gonna work harder at making friends with my feelings.
Here are some tools that will help you do that:
Feel The Feeling® Tool
Life Is Garbage & Life Is Great® Tool
The 3R's & The 3A's® Tool
wishing you the best of days,
Harley M Storey
CEO, Executive Coach
"The Life Coach Toolman!"
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