I gave up my phone for a month and it was the best month of my life. I gave up my phone for a month and I learned what true friendship was, I learned to be intentional with others, I learned what slow to speak and fast to listen truly meant.
Giving up my phone for a month required all of my friends to mail me letters if they wanted to talk or it having to be in person. This then helped me really learn how to deal with a lot of my problems on my own and not allow other's feelings to impact my decisions. I learned patience because I had to wait on everything, I didn't have the ease of access that our phones have created today. I didn't have a constant desire to be having to talk to someone. I was able to remember things that people said because I was completely and fully listening to them. I was able to care for people in ways I had not been able to before because I didn't have the constant lingering of a phone or the potential of having someone else to talk to.
I was able to have real conversations that lasted for hours completely uninterrupted because there was no focus on anything else other than the person in front of you. While yes, I did not know what was going on in the world, news wise, I was able to know fully what was going on in the lives of the people in front of me. Whether I knew them really well or not. I had meaningful friendships that conversations within the first three days of knowing each other went deep under the surface. I was able to appreciate nature and watch a sunrise, or the smoke on the lake, or the millions of stars at night. I didn't have to focus on taking a picture of it all and finding a good caption, I wasn't distracted by my phone, I was able to take it all in and be amazed.
Giving up my phone for a month taught me how to love others the best, it taught me to listen, it taught me to be patient, it taught me how to handle situations on my own, it taught me that hearing from your best friend is sometimes going to take six days due to the U.S. Postal Service, and it taught me to encourage everyone to give up their phone for some time. Even if it's a day. It taught me to not rely on it.
I gave up my phone for a month and it was the best decision I ever made.
