21st Century Family

In a generation that connects through technology, it’s difficult to imagine a time in which this wasn’t possible. I remember when I was a teen and computers were just starting to get usable on a personal level for super simple tasks like keeping track of records or playing text based games. Cell phones did not exist in my early childhood.  A pmp (portable media player) was essentially a boom box that played the radio or cassettes. Considering I’m not even 40 yrs old, and I sound like a grandfather saying that, it tells you how fast things are changing. I currently carry an iPhone, use social media, and spend countless hours behind a computer. I love the fact that technology allows me to stay connected to friends and loved ones scattered all around the county!! The problem is that texting and using social media and “friends” that are social media based, can really take time away from investing in real “face to face” relationships…at times, relationships right in your own home. If you spend too much time behind the computer or on your cell phone, you will miss some of those valuable “bonding or teaching moments” that occur in random spots. Only you really know how much time in your day is allocated toward what, but a good judge is just to look around at the results within your current family relationships. Are you close? Do you spend a lot of time together in actual conversations (not telling them to do something or super short exchanges)? Do you know how to have a real conversation that lasts over 30 min? Then ask yourself technology based questions. Do you spend over 30 min at a time on the computer? Do you feel “close” to the people you know online? It’s not rocket science where I’m going with this, so you be the judge and make changes accordingly!! As you make adjustments just remember that big changes are usually a result of lots and lots of little changes strung together.