A Lesson From The Barn

Picture this: You're standing out in a barn with the sliding door wide open. You're leaning up against a brick wall looking out amongst a pasture, trees, a dirt road, and a farmer's field. You feel a breeze blowing your hair while hearing the rain slow down then speed up from the wind against a tin roof. It feels nice and peaceful. You think, "I'll take a picture of this" but then you stop and instead of getting your phone out you leave it in your back pocket and just live in the moment.

Have you done that a few times? You think people will like what you're witnessing so you share it through social media. I have done that many times and it's not a bad thing to share a piece of your life with others but have we possibly got so caught up in what people think about our lives that we share everything we do instead of live in the moment? Have you ever thought maybe that moment you could be learning a big lesson but you missed it because you were so worried about getting the right angle or good quality on what you're witnessing? That moment was my moment as I stood alone in a barn. I stopped and embraced the quiet. No talking, no sound of typing, no buzzes or beeps from messages, just complete silence with some sound from the rain. During that moment it got me to wondering and look at it all in a different way. It got me thinking about how there are so many wonderful things going on around us but we're too busy trying to capture it for our friends and get 30 likes on it. We are letting life slip through our fingertips one tap on the virtual keyboard at a time. When have we taken the time to live life instead of taking pictures of it? Social media is always going to be there and they're even finding ways to let us look back on our posts and relive those memories but you'll never truly live them because you were too busy coming up with a good quote to put with it.

So here's my point, I have nothing against social media. It's a nice way of keeping in-touch with friends and family who are living in another town or another state. Social media has it's good but sometimes it's good to take a step back and shut the technology off. Take time to live life. Social media will always be there but the people you love and care about will not. Just think, when you turn off all the technology, what do you have left? Are there friends and family waiting for you to go on an adventure with them or are you all alone in a barn? Take a challenge to stay off social media for one day and live life in the present. You'll be surprised what all is out there when you just live.