As They Really Are

I saw a quote that says "If you do what you've always done then you'll get what you've always gotten."

It kind of stayed with me.

Then I heard a devotional by Amy Jensen, a theater professor at BYU. You can download and listen to her excellent talk here.

It kind of stayed with me, too.

Then I realized that I had been avoiding listening to this, because I knew what it would say and I wanted to hide from the truth.

The truth is I have a media addiction. I mindlessly burn through hours on Facebook every day. I am literally wasting my life staring at other people's lives on a computer screen. And it is getting me where I've always gotten.

I don't think facebook is an evil thing. On the contrary, I think it is a very powerful tool to take care of and keep updated on others, share testimonies, advice, knowledge, and humor.

Sister Jensen discusses in her talk about being contributors, and not merely consumers, of the media. I have not always been a contributor, but instead a mindless consumer of it all. 

The scriptures tell us that "this life is a probationary state, a time to prepare to meet God." I don't really want to meet Him and report to Him "Well, Lord, I spent my life that you gave me on facebook...." It would be sort of like the parable of the talents. Instead of increasing my abilities, I buried it.

So I'm going to take control. I am going to do things differently than I've always done and get different results than I've always gotten.

I now have posted on my computer screen these 4 Checks, inspired by Elder Bednar and Sister Jensen:

1. Does it invite or impede the Holy Ghost?
2. Does the time you spend with technologies enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve?
3. Are you consuming or contributing?
4. Is it restricting your education?

I expect this adjustment to be difficult for me. I have abused the media every day for the past 4 years, and just like any addiction, I am going to have to readjust. But I embrace the prospect of a purposeful life. Of contributing and not just consuming. Of being in control of myself.

Speaking of media. I am so stoked for THIS!