Fantasy or reality

Something that has struck me, and I am very guilty of participating in, is the fantasy world known as "the internet".  When you really stop to consider things, the internet allows you to create your own reality.  There are so many realities to choose from, you can select multiple types or just subscribe to one genre.  But the thing is that you literally create your own virtual persona online. It may be who you are, it may not be. It's up to you.  To maintain this online persona though it takes time and dedication.  You have to take pictures that portray what you want to portray, write things, read things, repost things. It can be time consuming.  So time consuming, in-fact, that we rarely have time for reality.
One great way I am guilty of this is exercise.  Exercise and physic are no longer part of my electronic persona.  I am getting older and more out of shape, I am not as attractive as I once was.  So now, I find it hard to find time to exercise since it's not part of what I am trying to portray.  I don't take pics of my flabs and post, I don't post my workout routines or my before/after pics. I don't talk about what nutrition supplement I'm using, I don't rant about roids and natural muscle growth.  It's just not my thing.  So I find myself being either involved in my electronic persona or things that  perpetuate my persona.  Whatever happened to being who you are and not worrying about who people see you as.
When I was in school I had a professor that was completely enamored by the saying "be here now".  He would repeat it almost every class period.  It was quite frankly annoying.  At this moment in time, however, I see more than ever the relevance of this cliche.  We are too involved in who we want people to think we are, that we don't take the time to be in the moment and live.
This has been one of my recent concerns and a reason I think I do not live my life to the fullest at this moment in time.  I constantly look forward to my next achievement or land mark in my life. I am trying to slow down and pay attention to the reality around me and become an active participant in life rather than a casual observer.  I hope that you too will take some time and try to be here now.  Be in the moment no matter where you are or who you're with, realize you are living and breathing and experiencing life.  Shape your moments in life and enjoy them rather than your electronic persona.