When is the last time that you went somewhere without your cell phone?
I asked myself this one day, and the answer was that I can’t remember. In today’s modernized world, cell phones can appear to be a necessity. It is hard to even imagine doing the half of things that we do without a cell phones. Having the World at your finger tips is a pretty amazing feeling. Filled with endless entertainment and with capabilities of constant communication, our cell phones provide us with a way of life that only day dreamers imaged 30 years ago.
While cell phones possess these amazing abilities, they also possess the ability to take away so much of life that is so beautiful. The purest things in this world become saturated. About a year ago, I started taking notice to how different the world is with this constant distraction. When I would go out, I realized that I was looking at my phone, and not really noticing the moment that I was in. I was scrolling through other people’s “shared moments”, I was texting others asking about what they were doing, I was curious about everything- everything else other than what was surrounding me- my life.
Recently- I started incorporating my phone a little less into my life. I tried quitting cold turkey on and off for a few months, and I kept giving in. Instead of trying to cut away a cell phone entirely, I decided that I was going to use it smarter and less when I am around other people (not just ones that I know, interacting with new people is just as important).
Too much of anything, is not good, and my overuse of my cell phone was definitely affecting some areas of my life. There are a few things that I have changed, and it has helped me open my eyes to some things in my life, that were right in front of me and I was unaware of.
The biggest obstacle for me, was getting out of the mindset that I am constantly missing out on something. Social Media keeps you in the loops about everyone, just about everywhere. Seeing what others are doing can be addicting. So addicting that you end up doing it for hours. Browsing people’s lives, sharing their moments with them. It is crazy what we can do with our ability to connect. For me, I had to tackle this one, but still try and keep in touch with people. Keeping in touch is important to me, but it doesn’t have to rule your life. Social media keeps everyone that we care about up to date through the touch of our finger tips. How can you want to pass this up?
What pushed me to want to pass it up, is how it was affecting the people around me. Constantly craving moments of phoneless-ness, I started taking notice to how much the people I care about were on their phones and not truly sharing moments with me. This desire to have people be off their phones became frustration. People stop looking up and enjoying the tiny things.
My favorite moments are those share with people, not looking at what other people are doing. There is a time and a place for your phones, and I think that courtesy should be upheld, and people should try and spend more time with people, rather than focusing on what they could be searching on their phones.
