I asked. You all obliged.
And I received some amazing feedback on the phone dilemma. If you read this post, you'd know that I was failing at giving up my phone for "No Phone Week." I had convinced myself that this phone was necessary. What was unnecessary was the fear I had about giving up my phone. FaceBook was already gone as a means of communication, and now I was taking my phone away too! What if I needed to get a hold of someone? What if someone needed to get a hold of me? What if there was an emergency? WHAT IF??? I could go down that path all day.
Since I'm trying to tackle my mental hoarding situation, I had to pitch that fear and anxiety. So, as much as people agreed it was okay if I failed, I went the other direction. This time I planned better. I sent an email out to all family members. I ignored calls and texts. I left the phone at home when I left the house. And I took a break from feeling the need to be constantly connected with people.
How did I do? Partially won. Partially failed. On day 1, I received a phone call from a weird number. I had The Hubs answer is it because we were still getting some house work done and the company was supposed to call and verify the time. The Hubs, with the phone etiquette of a donkey, just answered and shoved the phone in my direction. In one of those typical "I'm trying to be quiet so the person doesn't hear me but I really want to yell at you right now" scenarios, I tried to figure out who was calling and for The Hubs to field the call. In a surprising stubborn turn, The Hubs won and I took the call. Appointment made, the bitching commenced. I won round two.
With that over, I set the phone down and walked away. And I walked away for three whole days. E-mailed family when I needed to get a hold of them. Went without communication with The Hubs for over 24 hours when he was at work. Ignored the list of phone calls I needed to make. Anxiety and fear stayed in the trash can.
Then came day 4. With the lack of communication and having to live with only the communication between me and toddlers, I was jonesing to talk to any human adult. The Hubs returned after his day away at the
I ended the rest of the week with only texting/calling The Hubs for "important" things, like when I had to drop off his pillow at work. Other than day 4 phone calls, I resorted back to e-mailing, even with my parents. This was much to my mother's chagrin as she understandably wanted the details of the days that passed after that frantic phone call. Yet, not divulging every tiny detail in those post-teenage-like-drama days felt relieving. I had time to choose my words. I had time to think about my actions. I was doing that whole growing up thing where I nix emotionality and replace it with reason and thought-out conclusions.
This is where failure works. If I hadn't broken down and used my phone, I may have never come to the realization that I need to curb my emotional impulsiveness. Pronto. It's always been known in my family that Megyn is the emotional one. And I accepted that label and just thought that's how it is. My family would have to deal with my emotional outbursts. Well, no more. Emotionality isn't bad. It allows for strong empathy skills, but it can hinder. The issue is trying to find away to allow myself to be emotional without it leading to impulsive, and often regrettable, actions. All of these life changes from making a couple phone calls. I guess you could say my little experiment worked, but with unexpected consequences. These curve balls, y'all, they're worth it.
Now that the phone is back, I'm trying to decide what to do about it. Right now, we're on a family plan with T-Mobile. 750 anytime minutes. Unlimited texting. $86.47 per month. It's still cheaper than what we were getting at Verizon, and we just found out we can get 250 more minutes a month for a penny less. But, I'm finding that I don't need all those minutes or unlimited texting. I'm even waffling a bit on whether or not to have texting at all. Some days I could do without. Other days, I gravitate to my tiny keyboard because I have to get information to someone and prefer to do so without having to yell over the screams of small children. Plus, I'm sure so many people love having a conversation with me when I'm yelling things like, "Are you done pooping yet?" or "Stop slapping your penis," or "Choking your brother's neck can kill him!" I'd like to spare everyone from that when they just need to know what time to stop by.
What are my options then since the ability to text is immensely useful? We are on the lowest minutes plan at T-Mobile. We could get rid of the texting package ($20/month) and just pay for all texts individually. We could pay to get out of our contract and move to Cricket or a pay as you go plan. All I've realized is that my phone is not worth that kind of money every month. When you leave the fear and anxiety of the "what if's," you find these companies are gouging you out of your hard earned money. I'd like to take a stance against that.
Suggestions? What cell plan do you have? Do you feel wallet-raped every month when the cell phone bill arrives? Do you experience the anxiety and fear of not being able to get a hold of someone? What's the level of importance of your phone?
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Have you left a question yet for next week's Q&A post? I'm offline starting Thursday, so bring it on!
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