It's true. I announced yesterday that I decided to break up with Facebook. It seems as though it's been a long time coming. Will I miss it? Sure! I will miss all the hours of addiction staring at all my wonderful friends' posts and pictures. I will miss sharing things of my own and catching up with those that are far away.

However, Facebook stressed me out. Plain and simple. I know it shouldn't, but it does. I found myself so upset and furious most days I was on there. Whether it was due to a personal friend that was attacking me for certain reasons on my lifestyle, or support groups I joined where people would completely lash out on me to the point I would be shaking after trying to defend myself.

Is that stress even worth it? For a while, I thought so. I thought I could and should just ignore it. But it just never seemed to stop. I found myself daily in arguments and fights with friends and total strangers over nothing. It sounds childish, I know. And sadly, it all is. That wasn't the only reason I decided I no longer like Facebook. My husband and I would argue about me getting upset on Facebook. It seemed like it caused us to fight because people were starting fights with me. So I knew at that point, I had to stop. It was affecting my home life in lots of ways.

Another reason I started getting tired of Facebook was I hate seeing nothing but photos of abused children on my newsfeed. I know it's reality and I know we should be aware of these issues and it is very important. But when you are scrolling through and see nothing but bloody bodies of children and things that parents are doing to them, I started to step more and more away. I really don't want to see that every five seconds. It hurts my heart. Not to mention my children are looking at Facebook with me curious as to what I'm watching or what I'm reading.

There's also so much fake on Facebook. I think that is the beauty of social media. Behind a computer screen, we can all portray a perfect life. And it just keeps getting more and more annoying with the fakeness. I was getting sick of that real fast. "Friends" putting me down because I wasn't living their lavish lifestyle of a perfect home, perfect body, and perfect marriage. This went on and on for years with multiple people and I got so tired of it.

But mostly, it was due to so much hatred that happens on Facebook. Being bullied in support groups, messaged by total strangers how horrible I am because I said I did something they don't agree with. There's only so many times you can hit the block button until you realize, this never ends. It will end up putting me in the crazy house for sure. And the sad part is, it sounds like I'm talking about a group of girls in high school. When this stuff is all being done by 30-something year olds on up.

Yes, I decided that Facebook just caused me more stress then I want to deal with. I know people are upset when I announced my leaving. I never meant to make anyone upset by it. But I don't feel it's the right place for me anymore. Sure, I will miss the great friends and shares, but there are lots of other ways to keep in touch. I will miss talking to everyone all day on Facebook. Sometimes those conversations kept me from breaking points at times when I felt at my lowest. But we can still talk. Facebook was so convenient but it's not the only method of communication.

I also used it to gain a lot of great ideas and info for school, crafts, etc... however, like my 9 year old told me... "mom, you have pinterest for that." And she's right. I don't end up on fights on Pinterest.

Leaving Facebook does not mean the end of the world. I see it as a new beginning.

I took a break from Facebook for a couple of reasons.

1) I was locked out of my account and couldn't get back logged in. I thought maybe someone reported me.

2) I wanted to spend less time off the computer and more time with my family.

And you know what? I enjoyed that break. I was able to do more and not distracted by Facebook. I enjoyed that time so much, that I finally decided Facebook wasn't for me. I was no longer wasting those countless hours scrolling through when I should have been doing something else. I wasn't getting upset by someone saying something mean to me on there. I wasn't stressed out because of a fight that broke out in a group I was in where I somehow once again, got myself in the middle of.

I am not deleting my account however. I am simply just not going to be logging on anymore or checking my personal account. The reason I'm not? It's because of my blog's Facebook page. I honestly hate that our blog's pages have to be connected to our personal Facebook accounts. I've worked hard on bringing the number to where it was.

If clients and companies did not rely on bloggers Facebook page numbers, I would delete everything and just suck up the loss. But I know I can't do that because of the clients I am working with. So I'll only be using Facebook as pure business and blogging...of course, some personal things and shares. I don't want to be a total zombie. But I'll be using that page only from now on until maybe one day, I won't need it either.

I've been on Facebook for a long time. And it seems like Facebook is life. It's our reality. But I need to focus back to real reality and stop living in Facebook's world. And I have to admit, it's much nicer getting rid of some technology. I've learned Facebook isn't everything. I was guilty of thinking that some days. 

So yes, saying I am leaving was not a cry for attention. I know some claim that to be true. But it was just my time. I feel like taking Facebook out will do some good mentally. It's almost a new year and time for a change.