Be aware of what you're doing.

The Internet and television can be really great tools, or incredibly dangerous. They can be very informative. Indeed, the ability of people to fight back against mainstream "wisdom," to begin to have their voices heard again... It rests on the Internet. It keeps me in contact with people that live far away, and brings me new friends that I would not have met. It's beautiful.

But it also can be a gigantic tool of avoidance. Avoidance of life. Of living. Of doing the things you want to do, of being appreciative of every moment, of ensuring that each day, you sleep at night with no regrets. As my personal trainer said, actually, "One day you're going to go to wake up, and your body won't listen. So you might as well have as much fun as you can now!"

Finding the balance between the two can be difficult. They say that more Americans would give up sex for two weeks than the Internet. I wonder if we should all take some time to be unplugged. Or at the least, be more aware of the ways in which we use the Internet -- am I learning something? Am I talking to someone? Is there a purpose behind my actions? Or am I passing time, in boredom, in fear, in denial? Even if we are going on the Internet to distract ourselves, we should be aware that we are doing so.

I've written about these things when it comes to television, but when you think about it -- it could be anything. Prior to the internet, it was TV. And I'm sure there are other time-wasters that we do every day. I don't have a problem with these things. As long as we go to bed at night and don't feel as if we've wasted our time. I am on a mission to be grateful, excited, and appreciative of every day. Being aware of how I use my time is just one part of that.