When it comes to social media, there are just times I turn off the world, you know. There are just some times you have to give yourself space to be quiet, which means you’ve got to set those phones down.

– Michelle Obama

Day Eighteen: Space

An excellent quote from Michelle Obama about stepping away from the digital world to give yourself space. When was the last time you put your phone down for an evening? How did that feel? Did it bring up any particular emotions? Perhaps boredom, anxiety, an uncomfortable feeling…or was it relief, peace? Giving yourself space can help you identify your mental state, and as acceptance is the first form of recovery, this can enable you to deal with any negative emotions that arise.

First task today is to choose an evening (sometime soon!) when you will not look at your phone (do one hour if this is too hard as a starting point!) – see what emotions come up.

Secondly, can you identify anything that you need space from, which tends to have a negative effect on your self-esteem? This could be a person, object, app – anything that can make you doubt yourself.

I have identified I need space from:

• Strava – for those who don’t know, Strava is an app where you can track your running and follow others to see how often/long/fast they run. I am sure many people use this app effectively to monitor their running progress, but I started to feel down when using it. I was comparing myself to others and beating myself up for not running faster than my previous times. DELETE!!
• Celebrities on Instagram – as I talked about in the previous day’s challenge, I unfollowed a number of accounts on social media (specifically Instagram). These tended to be female celebrities (Love Island contestants featured strongly on the list!) that just take shots of themselves looking amazing, normally advertising a beauty product. Now I follow women who show me that inner beauty is more important, and inspire me to be healthy/loving/generous in life.

I will put my phone away tomorrow evening…it will be hard for me but I hope I’ll manage more than an hour!

Next, we find calm.

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