On Vacation? Turn Off, Unplug and Log Out!

As I am writing this article, my wife is playing games on her iPad, I am checking spelling on my laptop and monitoring the social networking sites that I manage on my iPhone while we are both watching the Convention in Tampa on TV.

Technology is not always the great liberator it was touted to be 50 years ago. Instead, it has become a weighty taskmaster dividing our attention and harnessing us with dependency. Just think, you are reading this on your computer, tablet or phone, maybe while trying to multitask at the office or at home. We sit down and we have a smartphone or tablet in our hands playing the latest app or texting our kids. We depend on it for our work, news, information and entertainment. Gone are a the days of just sitting in a rocking chair, watching the world go by. Now we can’t even have a quiet meal without checking the latest stock quotes or our friends Facebook update.

I find myself longing for just a few minutes of silence. Nothing to distract me from my thoughts, from just relaxing and clearing my mind of the day’s duties and stress. What have we traded for an hour of peace and quiet?

Studies have shown that our brains cannot handle the information overload we face daily. We have paid a high price physically with more cases of  high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

So, later today when I’m sure not to be disturbed, I’m turning off my browser, powering down all my electronic devices and placing my seat in the reclined position. Try it sometime and you just might, for the first time in a long time, remember what it is like to just be.