By Scott Campsall
I’m currently in the middle of a battle.
The fight got so intense that I put my phone into a drawer and vowed to myself not to look at it. The problem was, then my son called me. I had to pick it up for him. Then, I got a message from a student. I had to answer him back. I also thought of something that I wanted to message a friend about, so I did that. And that was that. I then lost to social media. I checked in to see what was going on and before I knew it, I was sucked into all the negativity and drama. Sure, there were some funny memes and videos. I did see some heartwarming posts from family and friends, but most of it all was just energy sucking and that is the battle I’m talking about.
I have friends going through major challenges right now including the death of loved ones, divorces, and cancer diagnoses. Anything that I am dealing with is just trivial and my heart went out to them. There’s nothing I can do to help. That’s so frustrating. Enter the other stuff on the Facebook groups or the negative comments about politics and other current events and I lost time that I will never get back.
I’ve never gone to an AA meeting, but the serenity prayer is a good one. “God; grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
If I can’t change something, I need to put my phone down and let it go. If I can change something, I need to put my phone down and put my energy into making that happen.
Even picking up a piece of garbage on the ground and throwing it in a trash can makes the world a better place and I don’t need my phone to do that. I don’t need a phone to do a lot of things that can have a positive effect on me and others. This month, I’m going to do my best to learn how many things there are so if I don’t respond immediately to a text or message, you now know why. It’s because I’m in the middle of a battle — that I’m winning — and the rewards are huge.