Have you subscribed to my RSS feed yet? If not, just click here.

Reading time: 3 – 3 minutes

prayerI know. I know. I’ve been gone a while and let’s face it, you missed me. (I kid…kind of) The truth is that I’ve been, well, offline. Unthinkable right? As online business types (read: someone who spends the majority of their business life on the internet) we can get SO caught up in cool tools and latest communication mechanisms that it is easy to go weeks, even months having neglected all things that make us human beings.

It’s interesting to note that when you leave something for a while and come back to it you are able to have some amazingly deep insights and perspective about that thing. There were definitely some lessons gleaned. I want to present to you some of the things I learned whilst I have been “away.”

Human Interaction

The advance in communication technology has done some pretty amazing things for our society. I’m old enough to remember the good ole days before the proliferation of cell phones. Remember when you had all of your phone numbers memorized? Now, I dare you to recite your best friends cell phone number. Go ahead. I’ll wait. I think I’ve made my point.

Nowadays, there are SO many ways to get in contact with people that its not even funny. You can reach people by cell phone, text, instant message, Facebook, email, etc. With all these methods at our disposal it seems to make it easier to maintain relationships both old and new. The reality is that it actually erodes true communication.

As nice as it is to get a text or an IM, oftentimes there is a world of context and detail that is left out completely. It’s just the nature of the medium. This makes it hard to actually share real information. There may be something important on your mind when you are asked “How are you?” but it’s hard to get it out via Facebook so the answer ends up being “Fine.”

The Fix:

Take some time during the week to meet up with a good friend or someone whom you haven’t spoken with in quite some time. Grab lunch, go to a park, anything. Actually looking someone in the eye and seeing body language can be a healthy reminder that you are a human being and that this is how human beings were meant to relate to one another.

Just like fertilizer nourishes the soil, a face-to-face conversation with someone can nourish the soul. (Did you like how I got all deep on you? Awesome)

Take a Walk

Those three words can literally set you free. I’m deadly serious. Life can seem to move at such and increasingly rapid pace that it seems all but impossible to stay caught up on everything that is constantly vying for your immediate attention. One day after feeling particularly overwhelmed I decided to take a walk. I had seen this strange ritual performed by others but did not have any idea of its therapeutic value.

I’m not sure how much you know about the concept of rhythm. I will keep it simple. Everything has a natural rhythm. Music is a glaringly obvious example. So does your heartbeat and various other natural phenomena (night and day, seasons, etc) Well, life also has a rhythm.

Finding life’s rhythm puts you in a state of peace and calm. Walking is a way to put yourself in alignment with this rhythm. It forces you to slow down. As you slow down, your mind will also slow down and oftentimes less important thoughts in your mind will show themselves to be just that.

The Fix:

Take a 30 minute walk and see for yourself. I also hear that it’s good exercise. ;)

Change Something

Human beings have come to love the status quo. That’s just a fact of life. Don’t believe me? How many people do you know who when they go to a restaurant will only order one particular dish and nothing else. Every single time. Could that person even be, gasp, you?

We are masters of the familiar. It is our nature to become content and feel safer in situations that enforce sameness. But these same situations also restrict thoughts, form a rigidity in our thinking and stifle creativity. In terms of business, have you ever been in a rut? (Stupid ruts…) All of a sudden we can’t perform our everyday tasks very efficiently. Our brains seem to turn to mush and its hard to think straight let alone concentrate. This can be downright scary.

The Fix:

In these types of situations the best thing to do can be to just change something. If you have a laptop, head outside to finish your work or to read. If you spend time in a cubicle, go take a walk around the office or outside. Do something different. This can help to break you out of the familiar cycle and get the creative juices flowing.

It is way more productive to change something up and work to get the mind back to its productive functioning than to try to force yourself to “fight through it.”

Prayer and Meditation

This should on the top because it is by far the most important. Most people remain unaware that everything in our life occurs from the inside out and not the reverse. We are not human beings who occasionally have spiritual experiences. We are actually spiritual beings having a human experience. Prayer is the process by which we align ourselves with God within. There is much stability of mind and circumstance when we, by prayer, keep ourselves connected with God. I’m not here to preach and I don’t know what you believe.

As for me, I believe in and pray to Jesus Christ. I read and meditate on the Word of God (the Bible for those that don’t know) In the midst of any trial or tribulation or disturbance of peace, prayer to God keeps and sustains you. I really don’t know where I would be without Him. I don’t know what your beliefs are and just know that whatever they are, I respect them but as for me and MY house we will serve the Lord (a little Joshua 24:15 for ya)

The Fix:

Start to pray and meditate TODAY.

The internet is a remarkable invention that has transformed the way we live our lives but it is NOT and should not be our life. When it starts to be all-consuming, take a step back and seek balance. Again, this is by no means an end all be all but just some things I have realized in my time away.

What do you to find some balance in between your online and offline activities? Please share in the comments!

Photo Credit