A Rant. . .

This was too good for me personally:
"We also need to make sure we're deliberately exposing ourselves to materials that edify the human soul rather than erode it. If you deal with a measureable amount of insecurity, poring obsessively over InStyle magazine or amusing yourself with online shopping probably isn't doing you any favors. If you don't know if your hype of choice is a problem, try putting it aside for a while, and once you get past the initial withdrawal, see if you feel better about the person God made you to be. If you do, rethink how much you want to reintroduce that particular media outlet. Our culture molds addicts like cavemen molded clay, so moderation can be even more challenging than avoiding it altogether." - Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity

I feel kind of dumb writing my confession, but here goes: Over the last year, I became a bloghopper. Remember, I wrote some of my favorites as suggestions at one point? Blogs are kind of the new thing (or old, whatever) and it seems like everyone and their dog has a blog. Some of them are absolutely hilarious. Some aren't. Some are addictive. Some are ridiculous. Some are uplifing and encouraging and make me strive to be a better woman. Some are depressing and degrading and full "woe-is-me" writings and make me want to vomit a little. I found myself getting angry at what some people wrote. How could they? Well, one day I felt like God pointed it out to me that I had a choice as to where I clicked. Huh. What a novel idea!! So, I quit clicking. Then, a few days later, I'd click again. You know, moderation. I'd get the want-to-vomit or on-the-verge-of-angry feelings in my stomach again and remember those blogs just weren't healthy for me to visit. Funny thing is, most of the blogs I'd read were written by people I've never even met before!!! I'm a dork. Other ones were maybe written by people I'd met and knew of, but didn't really know. I was wasting so much time trying to keep up with people I didn't even consider close friends.
Bleh. That's just the tip of the media iceberg for me. I just happened to be reading tonight and that one paragraph hit me hard. I quit watching certain shows and reading certain magazines. I quit visiting blogs that made me feel less than who God created me to be. I've been trying to spend more face-to-face time with people here (real people) and email my friends and family back home. I'm not perfect, but I'm more than what I think I am when I compare myself to others.
PS If my blog is one of those that makes you almost want to vomit sometimes, I'm so sorry and please don't visit me anymore.