At midnight, I announced to my friends and colleagues on my personal Facebook account that I will be having a sabbatical from Facebook for a month to focus on things that I need to do. It was weird, as I fell straight asleep, the first time in months, if not years, without worrying about what news, comments or funny anecdotes I was missing throughout the middle of the night.
The point of the exercise is to focus my time on the things that are important - my kids, my work, my bills, my health, my face-to-face friendships and my personal development to actually make things happen. To help my kids in any way I can with their homework and upbringing, to dedicate more time to writing my next best-seller and pursue new avenues for my novel, to exercise more and come up with a healthier style of eating that works for us all, to enjoy more lunch and evening dates with friends, to develop a better inner balance, to nurture my mind with different cultures and professional opportunities and be helpful to whomever needs my help.
So far, Day One was a breeze! Dexter and I went for a longer walk than usual to the beach and up and down its steep staircases and ramped paths. We bumped into two people we knew, with just a short chat with an ex-neighbour, which was really nice. I have decided to go on a low-carb diet (well, I should actually say 'lifestyle change'), so the morning started with boiled eggs and lemon infused water. After tackling my quarterly tax statement, I went grocery shopping for the new lifestyle foods, trying to stay away from processed foods where I could (just a few snacks for the boys, and bread for their sandwiches). After getting all the groceries in the fridge and pantry, I made the boys and I some lunch, and a tomato salsa to accompany dinner, tackled a little bit of homework for my youngest son, then we had a little table tennis tournament, before heading out to see 'Jersey Boys', thanks to a generous gift of movie tickets from a family I helped edit their webpages for their daughter's dance studio website. We came home and I took Dexter for a wee walk before finishing dinner, then had some TV time, where after some light entertainment of "The Voice Kids" came the horrors that have lit up the Australian news in the last week of The Alison Baden-Clay murder and the MH17 flight.
For those who don't know, Alison Baden-Clay was a beautiful wife, mother, daughter sister and friend, murdered by her own husband in Brisbane, Australia. He was having constant affairs and always putting his wife down for her cooking, her housework, her appearance and her mothering. He had one affair for 4 years, sometimes even cheating on his mistress with other women. The thing is… I can so relate to this. The stories coming out after he was found guilty, all the characteristics and all the events leading up to her disappearance and murder, all were characteristics of my marriage and affair I had with a married man. The narcissistic demeanour of the men I have been involved with in my 22 years of adulthood screamed to me that if I allowed either relationship to continue, or if I had actually moved to be nearer to my internet lover, then someone would have been killed. Both men were highly derogatory if things weren't going their way. Both men struggled with their ability to live within their means and debts to possibly consider doing away with someone for the sake of life insurance. Both of them had violent tempers. One of them even admitted to me one day that he had the knowledge in how to kill someone without it looking like a murder because of his profession, while the other had learnt specific martial art moves that could kill, and would freely suggest he could do them. One of them even pull out a gun in front of me with the intent to use it on himself. These are not normal conversations and actions of someone with a sound mind. But for the mistress, all her confessions about the love she had for the murderer, sounds so familiar. I loved him unconditionally and was ultra forgiving towards him, as she was, but now hope never to be in the same space as him ever again… they both disgust me… yet I'm also regretful for allowing things to last as long as they did, and that I was so naive to not get out sooner.
So that's my reflection on the day… no Facebook, quite productive and really not a minute of time missing Facebook or twiddling my thumbs. I got lots of cuddles from my boys and Dexter the dog and don't feel a bit hungry or lacking in energy after Day One of the Low-Carb lifestyle. We'll see how the work week goes! But now, time to read my book… Night x
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