October 15, 2014
   "Name 20 things you could be doing right now."
Those eight words and that one number opened up my eyes.
I made the list at work today, it wasn't hard. The ideas and activities just kept coming.
I needed that list. I needed the rope it provided me.  
That rope pulled me up from the quicksand.
The quicksand is my addiction to the mindless soap opera message board Daytime Dish. It's a place where soap fans go to insult, attack and devour each other. It's fueled by obsession over fictional people.  I've been a DD devotee for longer that I am comfortable saying.  Yes I've taken part in baiting, gloating and bickering synonymous with the site.
I've become purple with rage at people I've never seen over characters that don't exist.
It was my cigarettes break,  my comfy couch in front to the TV.  It was how I decompressed after a day of deadlines and  navigating the manic TV newsroom. I immersed  myself  in DD. 
What happened on General Hospital today what Liz Webber, my favorite character did. When Genie Francis might possible be coming back to the show?
I existed off of it.  But it demanded a big chunk of me  It could devour three hours of my night in the blink of an eye.
I knew it was obsession, and I tried to put it down and walk away.
I failed.  So I prayed about it, and failed to put it down. So I prayed some more. 
One day, while roaming the Dish,  wisdom whispered in my ear.
"What are 20 things you could be doing right now?"
I made a list, a wonderful, glorious list.
It's full of family, relationships, caring, work, health. faith.
Call your Mother and tell her you love her.
Pray
Read the Bible
Go for a walk
Read a book
Go talk to your daughter
Go play video games with your son
Call a friend
Call one of your 7 brothers and Sisters and catch up
Write a hand written note of encouragement to a friend
Clean out a junk drawer or closet
The List called to me. The List was life, my life.
My life neglected,  my life waiting for me to 
engage it, to take hold and live it!!!
The List is my lifesaver.