Can't we all just get along?

I love social media and technology. I love living in an age where I have access to news from around the world and opinions from people who are not mirror images of myself. I love being able to connect with and stay connected to people I would not have even ever heard of if Al Gore hadn't invented the internet (wink). But sometimes social media wears me down.

The conflicts and heated exchanges between the vaxers and the non-vaxers. The tales of politicians losing sight of the people they were elected to represent. The constant "you have to stand up, speak out, do something about..." The evil lurking in our world and the video proof that exists to dispute claims otherwise. Even my favorite morning radio show has made a weekly feature of "mean tweets" where they share downright ugly things people have tweeted about the show's cast. Sometimes it's enough to make me want to chuck my computer and iPhone into the nearest body of water.

Today is one of those days. Today is one of those days where someone on Facebook or Twitter would argue that drinking milk after 10pm will give you colon cancer and make your children ugly. I know I shouldn't shoot the messenger -- it's not the vehicles of communication that came up with the ugliness and terror and incivility they share. But when so much of the world's hatred and disrespect and even just foolishness are out of my control, cutting these stories/tales/opinions off at the source is one thing I can control. 

When I wake up tomorrow, I will ask that God help me face the challenges of my day and of the world with renewed vigor and hopefulness. I'll focus on what I can do to make my corner of the universe a brighter, more loving, more peaceful place. Maybe I won't turn on the radio. Maybe I'll choose to not engage in a conversation that won't matter in five years anyway. Maybe I will step out and take a stand for something that will indeed matter in five years. 

I don't know exactly what I will do. What I do know is that it's time for me to walk away for today. To log out of Facebook and turn off the TV. To lay my head on the pillow and have a conversation with God, thanking him for my blessings and seeking forgiveness for the wrongs I've done.  And to pray that tomorrow we can all just get along a little bit better. 

What would you do with an hour?

Charlie's football practice this morning is only an hour long, which means there was really no point in driving all the way back home just to turn around and pick him up. So I packed up my laptop, dropped him off and headed to a free WIFI zone (ok, it's Dunkin' Donuts, but I did NOT eat a donut, I swear) to do a little blogging.

As I'm sitting here, though, looking at the sun streaming in through the windows, it struck me that though my default setting for free time is getting online, there are plenty of things I could have done with this hour. Perhaps the next time I have a free hour I might:

1. Go for a walk (with or without the dog) -- today would have been a perfect day for it.
2. Read a book.
3. Go into the church and spend some time with God.
4. Get an oil change.
5. Make a menu for the week and a corresponding grocery list. 
6. Visit a friend (one who wouldn't mind a drop in visitor).
7. Take a nap in the car, though amazingly I'm not tired this morning. 
8. Wander Target or the Hallmark Store, practically a vacation when no one is pulling your elbow saying "Mom, can we buy this?!"
9. Go to the post office and mail my niece's birthday gift and a card to my mother-in-law.
10. Swing on the playground. I'm serious. At 40 years old, I still love to do this. 

If you had an extra hour all to yourself, what would you do?