Sunday Funday

Hi Dear Readers.

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps foe defeating Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

This is your weekly Sunday reminder that the single most important thing you can do for your mental, physical, and spiritual health is GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. Boycott it completely.

It takes about three weeks of social media abstinence to overcome the addictive dependency most people have on it. But it is very possible to do, if you substitute other positive activities for social media use instead. The main reason people succumb to social media use is boredom. If you stay actively involved in non-boring things, you will do fine. There are a gazillion pretty easy and no/low cost positive activities you can choose from, if you give it a little thought (I recommend inventorying a list of five to ten of these). Get out into nature and walk around using your five senses. Read/listen to a book. Watch a movie or TV show series. Make a recipe and eat it. Ride a bike. Explore the public transit system in your city. 

The main reason people turn to social media to alleviate boredom is the EASE of doing so. It's really not all that rewarding (small dopamine bump) and sometimes it leaves you feeling drained and angry (very negative emotions). But social media use is SO EASY, by design, that people will usually just pull out their smart phones and succumb to it, sometimes for a much longer time than is healthy. Alternative positive activities may take a little more effort to get going on, but not that much more, and they are often significantly more rewarding and time limited. So don't let ease be the enemy of your optimized enjoyment. Someday you are going to die and when you are on your death bed, are you going to be happy about how much time you spent on social media?

What's in store today, you ask? If all goes to plan, there will be exercise and rocking. I'm not sure of the exact order yet, but it will likely go something like this: pre-practice GUPPY EFFECT songs this morning (while Deborah sleeps in), in anticipation of this afternoon's GUPPY EFFECT band practice; bike to the gym for a swim and some lounging by the pool (great weather today); have the aforementioned GUPPY EFFECT band practice; and unscheduled time in the evening. Of course, I'll intentionally observe the Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe, eating only vegan food, exercising, and abstaining from toxic social and mainstream media (SMSM).

Fin.