I admit it. I got sucked into the current popular online game of choice. Divine! But, you probably already knew that; half the people I know are connected to me via social networking. Sweet!

At first, I allowed my daughter to download the game after I dragged her to a ladies jewelry party. A college-aged friend of mine showed it to her and well, I caved for the sake of “Can we go yet?” Then I decided to see what the fuss was all about. Now I am hopelessly stuck on Level 79. Might as well be Level 666 for all the fun I’m having trying to beat it. And for what? So I can move on to Level 80? Woo.Hoo.

As my husband tried, unsuccessfully, to have a conversation with me this evening, I lamented about having too much to do. When he left the room to watch football alone, I decided to spend “just a minute” playing the game. An hour later…

A notification popped on the screen during the game; a friend “sent a life.” Whew, that would keep me going another round or two. But wait. She sent me a life? What about the life I’m living? What am I doing with it? Sitting on the couch, staring at a screen, accomplishing … nothing. Sure, it’s entertaining. But is it productive? Does it get me closer to the goals I have for myself? Does it build, mend, or reinforce any of the relationships that mean so much to me?

All this swapping lives back and forth in the game, does that really connect us? Several of the friends with whom I’m connected online are folks I’ve been trying to visit in person, but we have been too busy to schedule time together. Busy. Stacking candy and waiting for our lives to be refreshed. Hmmm. Maybe we need to look at this differently.

Much to my daughter’s chagrin, I believe it’s time to delete the game from my device, to look at what I really want to accomplish this day, and to give myself a life. A real life of living.

Now that’s Divine!

Edited to say: This isn’t just about the silly game. It’s about Wasters. Those things that waste my time, my energy, my life. Sure, I will delete the game, the Waster du jour, but in my boredom and weakness, I’ll eventually find another. Here’s to deleting the Wasters and saving life for living!