I’m 50 now.  Shhh – don’t tell anyone.  My brain still hasn’t caught up with my physical age in many ways, and I kind of hope it doesn’t.   I’m actually working on just the opposite – getting my physicality in a little better shape, and a little ‘younger.’  It’s a long-term commitment, for sure.

My brain does act 50 sometimes though – when it comes to being technology-savvy, I’m a little slow to get on board.  It took a lot of poking and prodding to get me on Facebook.  I’ve been on it for a few years, and I have to face facts – my technology-driven friends were ‘right on.’  I’ve reconnected & learned more about friends -from my current pals all the way back to elementary school chums.  Facebook is as intimidating as I let it be.  I’ve learned to manage the urge to be on it incessantly.  I’ve become closer with some of my friends as a result, and I know some acquaintances better than before.

I have a Smartphone, read books and magazines on my Kindle, am on LinkedIn (the professional social network, so they say), and I do most of my banking via the internet.  I get my bank statements via email, and I have to stop sometimes as I flip through my mail at home – and ask myself why haven’t I signed up for almost everything to come electronically?   So much paper is wasted….

Truth is, I’m not quite as tech-savvy as I could be, but I’m solidly above the bottom of the matrix.  Maybe I’m in the ‘first quartile’ of tech-savvy?  I don’t tweet, use Foursquare or Hootsuite, and frankly, don’t even know what a couple of those are.  But I’m trying. Are you?

The New Year gives us the little nudge we need sometimes to try something new. Maybe you’ve been thinking about trying online banking or online bill pay. Maybe you’d like to use mobile banking, but you’re just not sure. Do it. Take that leap and try something new this year. Who knows, maybe you’ll be like this 50 year old and find that technology can be good.