Sheldon was out of town last weekend on a guys' fishing/golfing/pool shooting trip to the coast, so we had a date night on Thursday night. It was so much fun! We went to The Main Event, a Dave & Buster's-style eatery/bar/entertainment center. We wanted to scope it out to see if it would be a good option to visit with his family when they come to town this week (he has younger siblings ranging in age from around 13-22). We had a blast! We bowled, ate dinner and enjoyed a few cocktails, played skeeball, air hockey, and tons of video games -- racing games, Big Buck Hunter, Golden Tee, that basketball game where you try to make as many shots in 60 seconds as you can, and more. At the end of the night, it was a draw. I had beat him at a few things, and he beat me at a few. I'm most proud of the fact that I pulled off a one-pin victory in our final bowling game of the evening. I beat him by a score of 127-126, a darn impressive point total for me.
I think what made this night more fun than any we've had in a long time was that I didn't have my cell phone with me. I had forgotten it at home, and after that initial panicked feeling that sets in nowadays whenever someone realizes they don't have that ever-present technological albatross close at hand, I felt liberated -- happy I wasn't seeing how many emails were rolling into my work and personal accounts, how many calls and text messages I'd missed (and I'm not even that popular or successful), what time it was. You know what? I got home and saw that I hadn't missed anything urgent, and certainly not anything that couldn't be seen and responded to the next business day. Yet if I'd had my phone, I probably would have answered the text message that came in at 8:30 pm from a client, and I probably would have checked my email inbox at least once (not to mention how many times I might have stopped the action to take pictures, update Facebook, etc.). WHY??? To not let them pile up, or to get a mental jump-start on what I'd be dealing with in the morning. Again -- why?! What that type of thing really does is take you out of the present moment, shift attention away from the person you are spending time with, and intrude into your personal life. Instead, I had one thing and one thing only on my mind -- spending a few hours of time being a kid at heart with my friend and partner, enjoying our friendly competition and just being silly together.
I think I might start leaving my cell phone at home more often.
When is the last time you gave the person you love the gift of undivided attention and full participation? How many hours a week are you unplugged, simply living in the moment?
I think what made this night more fun than any we've had in a long time was that I didn't have my cell phone with me. I had forgotten it at home, and after that initial panicked feeling that sets in nowadays whenever someone realizes they don't have that ever-present technological albatross close at hand, I felt liberated -- happy I wasn't seeing how many emails were rolling into my work and personal accounts, how many calls and text messages I'd missed (and I'm not even that popular or successful), what time it was. You know what? I got home and saw that I hadn't missed anything urgent, and certainly not anything that couldn't be seen and responded to the next business day. Yet if I'd had my phone, I probably would have answered the text message that came in at 8:30 pm from a client, and I probably would have checked my email inbox at least once (not to mention how many times I might have stopped the action to take pictures, update Facebook, etc.). WHY??? To not let them pile up, or to get a mental jump-start on what I'd be dealing with in the morning. Again -- why?! What that type of thing really does is take you out of the present moment, shift attention away from the person you are spending time with, and intrude into your personal life. Instead, I had one thing and one thing only on my mind -- spending a few hours of time being a kid at heart with my friend and partner, enjoying our friendly competition and just being silly together.
I think I might start leaving my cell phone at home more often.
When is the last time you gave the person you love the gift of undivided attention and full participation? How many hours a week are you unplugged, simply living in the moment?
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