Six months ago, I decided to take a break from social media. Then in less than 24 hours of me reactivating my account I was asked, “What was the real reason?”
Well…
Prior to my hiatus I would have considered myself an avid participant of social media activities. I posted pictures of heart-felt moments with the family and motivational memes. I enjoyed scrolling through pics of friends, family, and even the occasional strangers. I’d watch those funny videos that would pop up here and there. I even found myself getting caught up in the telenovela aspect of other people's lives, as relationships cycled through their build-up and demise; family secrets being exposed; and the displays of low self-esteem aired alongside mental health issues. Oh and I cannot forget the flourishing and failed business ventures or the latest and greatest recipes and trends.
I found myself scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Oftentimes before I would get out of bed in the morning. Throughout the day. In the meantime; and in between time. Before bedtime. Even sometimes in the middle of the night.
However, back in reality outside of the socials, my husband and I had shared our personal goals. One of which was to become homeowners. We wrote out this goal on paper, and even created a knock off vision board for ourselves. Which was literally a printed picture of a random house that had all the features we wanted for our future home scotch taped to the bedroom wall.
Next, I just randomly woke up one day and decided it was time to deactivate my social media account. In that moment I made a conscious decision to tune out all the white noise of everyone else’s life to repurpose the time. Time that was being habitually used to scroll through Facebook and Instagram; into time to learn more about home loans, the current housing market, and the best practices of personal finance.
After 6 months with my repurposed time, we were pre-approved.
We then decided not to partake in the bidding wars that came with low-interest rates due to the devastation of the 2020 Covid pandemic. Instead we went and toured a new property development in our desired area. We were offered Lot 20 and we accepted. It has since become the site for our new home.
Now, I cannot fully credit my break from social media to the reason we were able to buy our first house. Prayers, sacrifice, hard work, savings, and dedication were also huge factors as well. However, taking a hiatus from social media did give me back time. Time that I used to refocus my energy on our goal. And I must say, using the time with purpose played a major role in us making the goal of homeownership real.
My name is Joi Smith. I’m just the girl next door, who is wanting for her life - MORE. And, this makes me a ReWriter!