Now that summer is upon us, it is time for some fun in the sun with our friends. We should be going to the lakes and pools, spending time at amusement parks and watching the sunset on another perfect day of summer. That, in my opinion, is how I would like to see more people spending their summers. But what I am actually seeing is everyone—and I mean everyone—on their phones. Trying to get the perfect picture that you have to take over and over again in order that you get the most amount of likes. Snapchatting your face to your friends instead of actually spending time with them face to face. Constantly having our faces buried in our phones trying to find something to amuse us for the time being. When did this become our summer?

Here is a scary statistic for you: the average person spends about four years of his life looking down at his phone. What can you do in those four years to make a difference in your life? We spend countless hours staring at a screen, whether it be our iPads, iPhones or computers, that we lose touch with those around us. Facebook was meant to connect us with family and friends that we don't see all the time, but it has made us lose that connection with those that are right in front of us.

We have begun to measure our self-worth by likes and followers instead of listening to those that truly care about us. Our face-to-face conversations have been reduced to FaceTime and Skype. Family dinners are spent on our phones having autocorrected conversations instead of making memories with those around us. The truth is: our life can't be autocorrected. We need to make a point to live in each moment with those that love us instead of looking for attention from those that will never mean as much to us.

So let's make a change. Let's not be the generation that is defined as being self-absorbed and on our phones, but as the generation that is selfless and is willing to live in the moment. Let's spend less time taking pictures of our food and more time eating it. Let's spend less time trying to find something to rant about on Facebook and spend more time speaking face to face with our friends and family about what is important to us. Let's make this a life spent with less "I" and more "us."

I will be the first to admit that I have done all of these things and more, but who said that it is too late to change? Who says that I need the newest app or the latest update to be popular? Who says that I need to wait until Thursday to post an old photo from childhood? Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days—the days when I wasn't worried about a phone in my hand or getting the most amount of likes on my picture.

Let's put our phones down, close our laptops and turn off our TVs. Let's live in the moment for the memories we can't put into words and forget about the ones that need to be remembered in a tweet or a post.

If you're still reading this, I applaud you for finishing, but please put down your phone, your tablet or your computer. Lift up your head and look at the great things in front of you. You will be surprised at what is out there just waiting for you to look up.