What a time to be alive; everything we need to communicate, function, and occupy ourselves is at the tips of our fingers and in the palm of our hands as we grasp onto our iPhones. If excessive phone usage was a crime, well, I’d be guilty as charged… as would the rest of America.

When I’m bored at work, I check my phone. When I’m sitting through a long and tedious Tuesday or Thursday lecture, the chances are high that I check my phone. When I’m in an awkward situation or find myself in a place I’d rather not be, I’ll make it seem as if I’m talking on my phone when in reality, I’m not. When I should be doing homework or studying for an exam I’m obviously fooling around on my phone. My cell phone is a huge distraction, one that I’m guilty of.

To the frequent phone checker: Stop checking your phone at the dinner table and engage in a conversation with whomever you’re eating with. Nowadays it seems as if many people are lacking social skills, which worries and saddens me, especially the new and upcoming generation. The other night as I went out to eat dinner with my family, I scanned the restaurant and had noticed a trend at every table — lit cell phone screens and cold food waiting to be eaten.

To the frequent phone checker: You can relax. The hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store, they aren’t going anywhere. The many unread emails patiently waiting in your inbox can stay unread for now. The current hash tag trending on Twitter is just a trend and will only last a couple of hours, tops. The many Facebook and Instagram notifications appearing on the glowing screen on your phone aren’t going anywhere either.

To the frequent phone checker- put your phone down because you’re going to miss out on the pure beauty of life and the many things that can’t be captured through the tiny camera lens on your phone that you plan to later upload to Instagram.

I understand that life moves by pretty fast and we don’t want to miss anything. We try to capture moments through a small lens but some moments just aren’t worth digitally capturing as your mind has already done so. God’s created many beauties and wonders of the world. Take both the sunrise and sunset for example. How breath taking is it to witness something so amazing? Memorizing hues of colors appear from the sky as we start and end our days, everyday of our lives. Something so simple, yet so beautiful. God’s creation is something we can best capture simply though the lens of our eyes, rather than our smart phones.