Friday, May 21, 2010

Is "easy" the enemy of "significance?"

I was reading Unstoppable Force his morning. In the first few minutes it felt like work; felt intentional. A few minutes later I fell into the rhythm of the read and I felt momentum. It was flowing; not feeling like work at all.

In between it "feeling like work" & "flowing" a thought darted in, "Just log on to Facebook."

I'm confident the motivation was "easy." Facebook holds updates that I click on taking me right to the last thing I did. The posts are short quips. I don't have to think much. Click, scan, post, repeat.

Reading involves more mental muscle. It's also more rewarding. I feel richer afterward.

I was talking with my friend, Curtis, fresh from 5 months in Haiti. There he walks everywhere with his friends. He said, "It's amazing how much people do things by themselves here in America."

I said, "Yes, but with Facebook we trick ourselves into believing we're connected."

Facebook is easy. But me actually meeting Curtis at Starbucks. Me actually meeting my friend George for lunch, requires intentionality; a bit of work.

But I'm sure this afternoon, I'll feel richer and more rewarded than if I'd Facebooked for an hour at Starbucks by myself...

I have but one life. And so do you. Let's work at life, growth and relationships.