My absolute biggest pet peeve in life is people being too consumed with their phones. Yes, I am quite guilty of this myself (I am the queen of Snapchat); however, I have steadily tried to give up my phone when it comes to being involved with the people I am with. In today's generation, we have to always be on our phones to see who liked our Instagram picture or to live vicariously through someone's Snapchat story. I believe that there is a time and a place for us to be on our phones and the dinner table, church, and just simply hanging out with your friends and family are not any of them. One day, we are going to be too involved with our phones to look up and notice all of the problems and changes going on in the world around us. By constantly being on our phones, we lose a great deal of time with the people that mean the most and have the greatest impact on us.
The saying "Go dark or stay home" is one that I have found myself using a lot lately. After losing several family members in the last two years to different health problems and even unexpectedly, I have realized how precious my time with people is. When I am with my friends out for dinner or even with my youth group, I encourage them to "go dark" which means put your phone up and not pick it up until we're done with whatever we're doing. If they can't do this simple favor, they shouldn't have put the time and effort into coming to spend time with everyone else. I believe it is disrespectful to constantly be on the phone when someone is trying to have a conversation with you or teach you something that is quite valuable. By "going dark", we are able to be completely present with the people around us at the time and give them our undivided attention. We are more approachable and easy to talk to when we aren't on our phone. Plus, we can learn something about our friends and family that we never knew about. There are so many advantages to this incentive, and I think it is something that we should constantly push in today's society because everything strictly revolves around social media and technology. The next time you're out with your friends or just need time to catch up with the your parents, put your phone down, listen to what they have to say, and allow yourself to fully focused on what you’re doing. Who knows, this may be your chance to share Jesus with someone who needs Him most.
Be present with the ones who are in your presence. I promise you will not regret it! You'll never look back at the times when you were on your phone too much, but rather what you were doing with the people that matter most.
In His Love,
