Last weekend I went to the Shania Twain concert with my mom and two sisters. It was a lot of fun! None of us are huge party animals, but it's fun to see my sisters laughing and doing a little bit of dancing! And my mom too! (yup, secrets out, she can shake it shake it!)
During the concert we had about five girls probably around age 17 sitting in front of us. At first we smiled because they all had matching Shania Twain shirts and were SO excited for the opening act Gavin DeGraw, and even more excited when Shania finally came out. They'd had their phones out during the opener, but none of us were 100% into Gavin DeGraw so it wasn't that big of a deal. I figured they'd put their phones away for the main concert. They didn't.
The spent SO MUCH TIME during the concert on their phones. Sending Snapchats, holding the sound up to their ears to see what it sounded like. Asking their friends if they looking ok in the picture and then sitting down to post it to Instagram. Then they'd stand back up, sing and cheer, get another good picture, and pull up Twitter and send a few tweets. Then more Snapchat. Then they'd go through all the Snapchats they'd been sent. And THEN they'd get back up and keep listening to the concert.
My heart was breaking for them. We paid $75/ticket for the concert. These girls had to have paid at least that much. And they spent at least HALF the concert worrying about their phones.
I'm not judging them. I know that I too can be easily distracted by technology. By Twitter. By Facebook. By Instagram. If my phone vibrates with a new message after I've already laid down for bed, I can't fall asleep without checking it. And there are many times in my life that I wish I could go back and put my phone away.
Social media is NOT inherently bad. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogging and even Snapchat can be tools for good. You can be a force for good on social media! But when we worry more about getting the perfect Snapchat to send out than worrying about enjoying the concert we paid to come to, isn't that a problem?
Instead of communicating at family parties, we hole ourselves up in separate corners, and sit on our phones. We worry about posting our successes on Facebook so the whole world can see. We get distracted by things that aren't even reality!
"Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones. Have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?" (Richard G Scott // First Things First // April 2001 General Conference)
I've been thinking about distraction a lot. What is keeping ME from the living the life I dream about? Are the things I say are my top priorities actually my top priorities? What are MY distractions? And how can I change them?
Don't let getting the perfect Snapchat deny you of an amazing concert experience. Kapeesh?
During the concert we had about five girls probably around age 17 sitting in front of us. At first we smiled because they all had matching Shania Twain shirts and were SO excited for the opening act Gavin DeGraw, and even more excited when Shania finally came out. They'd had their phones out during the opener, but none of us were 100% into Gavin DeGraw so it wasn't that big of a deal. I figured they'd put their phones away for the main concert. They didn't.
The spent SO MUCH TIME during the concert on their phones. Sending Snapchats, holding the sound up to their ears to see what it sounded like. Asking their friends if they looking ok in the picture and then sitting down to post it to Instagram. Then they'd stand back up, sing and cheer, get another good picture, and pull up Twitter and send a few tweets. Then more Snapchat. Then they'd go through all the Snapchats they'd been sent. And THEN they'd get back up and keep listening to the concert.
My heart was breaking for them. We paid $75/ticket for the concert. These girls had to have paid at least that much. And they spent at least HALF the concert worrying about their phones.
.....................................................
Social media is NOT inherently bad. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogging and even Snapchat can be tools for good. You can be a force for good on social media! But when we worry more about getting the perfect Snapchat to send out than worrying about enjoying the concert we paid to come to, isn't that a problem?
Instead of communicating at family parties, we hole ourselves up in separate corners, and sit on our phones. We worry about posting our successes on Facebook so the whole world can see. We get distracted by things that aren't even reality!
.....................................................
"Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones. Have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?" (Richard G Scott // First Things First // April 2001 General Conference)
I've been thinking about distraction a lot. What is keeping ME from the living the life I dream about? Are the things I say are my top priorities actually my top priorities? What are MY distractions? And how can I change them?
Don't let getting the perfect Snapchat deny you of an amazing concert experience. Kapeesh?
I have been noticing the crazy distraction of social media, as well. It's hard to have meaningful conversations anymore without someone pausing to check their phone. Satan is using this for his own good, so we definitely need to be on guard. Thanks for the great reminder!
ReplyDeleteAwesome message. You're right, we do spend too much time in our phones and often times forget to truly enjoy the moment. I'm very guilty of often times doing just that. It's hard when you want to capture and share every moment.
ReplyDelete