I really do miss flip phones. This was the time when you could dramatically hang up on someone, the internet on your phone was a luxury you had to pay for, and most importantly, phones were just that... phones.

Smartphones are great though, they've allowed us to have portable navigation, address books, photo albums, games, etc. More importantly, they've changed us. We are a new generation of people, with new fears, behaviors and social norms.

Smartphones have encouraged us to multi-task, but clearly, we've become a bit addicted. We feel the need to constantly be doing something, or going somewhere. We are always making sure that everyone else knows this too, whether it's via Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter. But why are we so worried about our image?

We all want people to see us our best selves all the time, so much so that we are constantly taking time to maintain our online reputation. I think we've become so caught up in preserving our "image" and ensuring that it looks like we're having fun, instead of actually having fun. Our addiction to technology has changed our behaviors and social norms drastically. Technology has changed us so much that there's now a term for the fear that you're missing out, or "FOMO."

This fear is caused by our constant need to check social media and know what everyone else is doing, so we've brought this upon ourselves, really. What we don't realize though, is that it's perfectly okay to miss out sometimes. It's okay to not be invited to anything and everything. I promise you, it's okay to spend time alone and doing something for yourself instead of being surrounded by the masses.

I don't understand why it's considered weird to eat by yourself or spend time alone in general. There's no harm in rejecting a few invites to spend time with the person you should get to know most, yourself. I think we neglect self-care and taking time to decompress because of this severe "FOMO." We're afraid that if we spend even just a few hours alone, we'll miss out on EVERYTHING, and then everyone will know that we were alone.

Taking time for yourself is more important than we realize. Even just a few minutes before bed (without your phone) can be beneficial. We've become so busy in our daily lives that there's hardly a chance to reflect on your day, your goals, your mistakes, and triumphs - all the things which you should consider. Our addiction/abuse of technology has become laughable. We're obsessed with the idea of being with each other all the time. The whole concept is ridiculous. We're so obsessed with letting people know that we're with someone, that we aren't actually present in the moment.

I think Alexander Graham Bell would laugh at how much we've let this small device control our lives. We don't have to take our phones everywhere. Before cell phones, people would actually just take time to organize their thoughts, or actually be present with another person. If we can take the small step to put our phones down, refrain from the urge to post something online every day, and be more present in our daily lives. We can revert back to a society that uses phones as what they are, simply a tool.