So, my over-40 women friends, what is underneath the new myriad ways to connect: cellphones, text messages, Facebook updates and Twitter tweets? We humans have a need, a yearning for connection, that is surely the underlying attraction going on here. And it does serve our purpose in the business world – never have we been so able to conduct business everywhere, anywhere, at any time. 

But what about our personal time? Has it infringed on our personal intimacy and connection time with real people? Is it sometimes true that virtual social networking keeps us apart from other people? Is there an illusion going on, of intimacy, because of all these light connections? Does this illusion actually blind us to the need for real connectedness – real intimacy?

DARE to Disconnect! Get off the screens. Stop. Take a breath instead of blizzarding through your life without real moments and real connections… All this electronic dandruff of life really gets in the way – as useful as it can be. But you need to employ it, not have it run you or your life.

So, ask yourself, “What do I really want to do today?” Make that your top priority, instead of allowing your time to be frittered away on Facebook and Twitter. Call an old friend you have not spoken with in a while. Buy a beautiful card and send it your aunt in a nursing home. Get together for coffee with a neighbor and share gardening ideas.

Disconnect to connect!

So, how do you DARE?

DARE to take our quiz and find out!

Click here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=224095350662.  (Sign-in to Facebook, if necessary.)  Click “Go to Application,” on the left side, then click “Allow.”

Take the quiz, publish it to your Facebook Wall, and let us know what you think!

For more information about the quiz—and to download our free PDF booklet about the DARE Profiles—visit our Profiles page.