I made it! I've been off Facebook for a whole month. I set a goal to unplug a month ago and it ended two days ago. I even stretched it for one more day and, when I logged back on, I saw tons of notifications and lots of friends who left messages saying they missed me. It was a good feeling, but it was nice to have the head-clearing effects of a month away. I also refrained from using Instagram (for the most part) and twitter. I got on Pinterest maybe four times in that month.

This purge helped me move on and let go of some people and places in my past. My life is in a new place, a new chapter right now and I am accepting that more now. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch, but I think it also keeps you from growing and being in the present, right here, right now, with the people that are in front of you. I will still use it to keep in touch, but at least for now it feels like I've broken the bad habit of letting it bring me down and stuck emotionally.

In treating anxiety, we talk a lot about replacing bad habits with better habits. For this past month, I spent the time I would normally spend on FB on Daily Strength, instead. The difference was huge. Here I can be honest and open about how I'm feeling and others are very honest, too. We help and support each other. On Facebook, it's all about making people jealous by presenting a perfectly-crafted life. I see the phoniness of it more clearly than ever, which I hope means I've broken its hold over me.

I definitely recommend this exercise to anyone who is a social media "addict" (like I was) who finds that the virtual world increases their real world stress and anxiety!!