Reset: When the Phone Wins the Pillow Fight

The glow isn’t restful. The scroll isn’t stillness. But there’s a quiet win waiting — if I can catch it in time.

I know better.

I know that when I bring my phone to bed, it wins. Every time. Doesn’t matter if I open it to set an alarm or just “check the weather” like I’m some responsible middle-aged dad/farmer hybrid.

Somehow I wake up an hour later fully immersed in:

• 2012 a cappella competitions,

• a new kettlebell and jump rope workout split (thanks, ChatGPT),

• or Level 317 of whatever ad-heavy game I’m currently addicted to.

Enduring the third ad in a row like a broke gladiator because I refuse to pay $3.99 for the full version.

Not a proud moment.

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The house is quiet. The kids are down. My decompression window has technically opened.

But let’s be honest — it’s closing fast.

My wife has already completed her four-step nighttime routine:
Book.
Headphones.
Audiobook.
Eye mask strapped tight like a blackout command center.

She flips to face the wall — her body language declaring, “I am officially unavailable.”

And me?

Still scrolling. Still glowing. Still justifying.
Convincing myself this is “my time”, while God and my nervous system both quietly disagree.

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The irony stings harder the next morning when I’m groggy, irritable, and internally snapping at my kids for making toast too loudly.

Not because of the toast.
Because of the phone.

Because the “decompression” I chose wasn’t actually rest. It was escape. Distraction. Sludge.

And here’s the kicker I keep relearning:

I don’t need to make space for stillness.
God already built it in.
I just forget to honor it.

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The reset?

It’s not in some 5-step sleep optimization guide or blue-light glasses with a discount code (which I love finding during my late night doom scrolling).

It’s the small, unsexy move:

• Put the phone on the dresser.

• Turn toward your wife.

• Let your body exhale.

That’s it.

Stillness wins.
Not the scroll.
And when stillness wins, so does tomorrow.

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“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10

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It’s not just a verse I’ve memorized.
It’s a verse that keeps chasing me.

Because most nights, stillness is the thing I say I want… and the last thing I practice.

When I take a few moments to reflect, journal, or pray, I try to pull the thread of what God is showing me.
Sometimes it’s a scripture I know by heart.
Sometimes it’s a new one.
Sometimes, I literally open my Bible — or ChatGPT — and ask it for wisdom.

But either way, that stillness — the kind Psalm 46 is talking about — is where the reset starts.
Where noise turns to clarity.
Where I stop performing and start paying attention.

Because most of what I call “decompression” is just distraction in disguise.

Stillness is where the real strength starts.

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If this hit home — forward it to a friend, or drop a comment below with your version of a late-night Gollum scroll.
We’ve all got one.

Let’s reset — together.