Everything Braden: No more instant updates: Why I think people are making themselves busier than they need to be.

As inspired by a tweet I happened upon earlier today I took the liberty of pondering on some very important things... I actually did decide to double up the amount of chocolate I used when making muddy buddies and I'm glad I did!.. but I want to talk about the other thing I pondered on today.

Here is the tweet: Read the linked article, it explains everything.

@brysonwhiteBryson White

Why I Dumped My iPhone - And I'm Not Going Back bit.ly/pshxCK

Bryson, you'll always be the truest G thug gangsta there ever was in my eye (that's a good thing, I promise) :)

The article brought up some very interesting points.

Let me give you some info about me. I like to think I'm important and that I need to be busy all the time because I am doing very important things. I have this strange idea that I always need to be there for everybody within 30 seconds because it's CRUCIAL that I give people what they want!

As bad as that sounds I'm glad that I realized it and can openly admit it to the world. (I'm not THAT important) I don't want to be like that anymore. It's got me nowhere.

After reading the above mentioned article, I realized that I have only been living half of the life I could be. Whenever I am physically somewhere I'm still only mentally half there. I'm usually checking and responding to emails or texts and making sure that I'm not getting left behind all the cool things that are going on in the twitter world... WHY? Today I took some time to think and realized that I'm not quite sure why I do that.

I tried an experiment and ignored my buzzing iPhone for 10 minutes while I had a conversation with someone whom I just met and was getting to know. I found out a bunch of really interesting stuff... I cared about what that person had to say. (A big step up from who I normally am)... I'm basically roasting myself in this post, I know, but I'm sure there are other people out there who do the EXACT same thing. I MADE THIS FOR YOU!! (Julian Smith voice) if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about just watch this... http://youtu.be/NwTsZHGQ6FE

Holy Fetch! I cared about a person I didn't even know? Dale Carnegie would be proud! (Enter "How to Win Friends and Influence People" reference here)

My point is when I momentarily ignored the world who so often ignores me, and lived in the moment I was in, I came out of it a better person.

Btw Korea is #helladopetight

Example: I served a 2 year mission to South Korea. ( 대한민국 화이팅!! ) For 2 whole years I did not watch TV, read the news, or do anything that wasn't directly related to furthering the work of the Lord.... GUESS WHAT?
A bajillion and a half (Trust me on this number, I took the time to count) crucial things happened during those 2 years. To name a few... the economy crashed, we elected a black president, people got shot at a university, a couple people won American Idle (Idol?) and I know they had a couple Super Bowls and NBA finals.

I came back from Korea having little knowledge about those happenings and it made no difference. I had made lifelong friends where I was. I learned an incredibly difficult language. I developed a greater love for my Savior and the people I served. I made a real difference in people's lives by showing them I cared about them by not distracting myself with other things.

Sure there was a lot of job problems and things going on in the world that I had to deal with when I got back but in the big picture there really wasn't much more to worry about than before I left. Staying up to date minute by minute those 2 years I wouldn't have been any better off. I probably would have been worse off (I heard stressing about things is not good for your health)

Keeping up to date every second with everything that is going on really isn't that important and it's quite annoying for the people who are in your physical presence as well. I've decided to be better about that ( I know I got a long ways to go) and see what new opportunities come my way. I can wait til later to know what Taylor Swift thought of the city she sang in that day... (as difficult as that sounds!) Last I heard she was doin something with Usher...