Have you ever felt a stone enter your shoe? At first, it seems manageable, but as you keep walking, it wears you out. What do you do?
That is exactly how screen time feels. I have been in situations where I just couldn't stop myself from scrolling through my phone, checking notifications popping up now and then, wanting to watch one reel video more, I would say, "just one more and that's it," but before I know it, I have swiped through another 5 - 10 of it.
It doesn't seem like a big deal to me because I feel it's a form of entertainment, not until I start feeling some discomfort in my body, fatigue setting in, a headache, then strains on my eyes, causing pain. It then forces me to stop.
One of my recharging routines is unplugging from screens. It's just like removing that small stone from my shoes. I have experienced a lot of times where I would have a small stone getting in its way into my shoes and for some reasons, I wouldn't think of removing it because I feel I can manage, but along the line, it makes me feel uncomfortable and so, not until I removed it would I truly walk freely and conveniently.
Everyone wants to meet up with lots of happenings on the internet. They want to meet deadlines and be productive before the end of the day. This keeps us glued to our screens for hours without realising it's damaging our eyes little by little. Just like removing the stone, unplugging from screens has been my way to return to myself and feel lighter. I notice how my breathing changes, and I gain more strength after a while.
This made me understand that even though for some, they would prefer to go on long vacations or big retreats just to mingle with people and be away from screens, for me, it begins with removing the small stone that has made me feel uncomfortable and eventually becoming better thereafter.
Another recharging routine is to take some rest. This is just like a phone in a charging mode.
I don't underestimate the power of rest, especially for someone like me who has come to appreciate life and good health. Just like how we leave our phones unplugged, which eventually dies, so do we when we don't pause to take a break. As simple as lying down on the bed or taking a nap, which I don't fail to do every single day, it's like plugging myself in to refuel my energy.
I have heard people say to me that my life is so simple and I need not stress myself of which I try to tell them I value my life and one aspect of it is to rest. If I don't complete my tasks, I will catch up later. I am not in a competition with anybody.
Our phones also need to be recharged to perform the work we want them to, and if we don't allow them to power up, how do we get to use them for our work? Same thing with us, human beings. We don't have to keep working like a clock that never rests. If you notice, a clock, too, dies when the battery stops working until we change it.
Changing the battery, charging our phones, they are just like giving ourselves some rest to refuel, to come back feeling more energised and also giving our body the benefits of good health.
Just because I want to achieve my goals for the day doesn't mean I shouldn't rest. Even if it's for 20-30 minutes, I don't hesitate to take a nap every day. Like yesterday, when I returned from where I went to get my laptop, I felt so drained, and my body ached. I forced myself to write a post, and at a point, my eyes were hurting so much that I couldn't go on. I checked the time for Bible study, and I decided to sleep for an hour before I leave.
But after an hour with the alarm forcing me to open my eyes, I just couldn't take it any longer. I went back to sleep and decided not to go to church. Seriously, I knew I needed that rest, else, who knows what would have happened on the way. When we don't give ourselves that needed rest, sooner or later, our body will ask for it in ways we do not expect, and I don't want to get to that stage. So, taking rest daily after some hours of working is very vital for me and has helped me a lot.
Images are mine
