I read a quote that really resonated with me, and that surely everyone can relate to. It read, “Disconnect with technology, reconnect with each other." Simple, straight to the point.

Relationships sustained by technology, these days, are anything but simple and straightforward. They’re more like skewed, misinterpreted, and distant. It scares me that we are so comfortable living so distant from each other in this sense. I think that, as a whole, we have forgotten not only the importance of human contact, but the significance it has for our well being. How many times have you pretended to be on your phone to avoid saying hi to someone you pass on the street? How many confrontations have you had using your phone or the Internet? We are not meant to live in a cyber world. These days, all anybody really wants is to be happy, or at the very least, content. I’ve recently discovered that the only way to achieve this is by simplicity, and by taking into account what we as humans were naturally born to do.

We were born to love. We were born to experience each other and this world that we live in. Being so tuned into technology leaves our souls in an empty space, trying to grasp onto anything that gives us meaning and fulfillment. We have forgotten that we choose the energy that feeds into our brain. We have to remember to make our minds a fertile ground for intellectual stimulation and love to take place. This all happens through positive person to person contact.

I love meeting new people for infinite reasons, but mostly because it helps me to discover and rediscover who I am. I love hearing various perspectives, backgrounds, and interests of other people and comparing what I know about my own. Meeting new people brings up a history of who you’ve been and the things you’ve done. You kind of get to rediscover yourself in a way that’s really unique. If you exclusively spend time with the same people who know everything about you, it’s easier to forget everything that makes up the individual that you are.

I have a theory that people have a tendency of being like a sponge, and constantly absorb little parts of life and personalities that together create who they are. I think that the key is to expose yourself to as many different thoughts, personalities, and belief systems as you possibly can. Challenge your own beliefs, and challenge your interpretations of the world around you. And, in the process, be selective of the things you allow yourself to absorb. For so many of us, negativity is one of the easiest things to absorb in our little sponge brains. If we surround ourselves with negativity, this thought process will become a habit before we even know it. So, we must expose ourselves to as much as possible, yet be very selective in what we allow ourselves to absorb and store as our own. Once you do this, you get the opportunity of shaping yourself exactly as you want yourself to be, which gives you huge power in life. And it all starts by simply reconnecting with the people around you.

For nothing but the sake of your own well being, try. Try to depend less and less on technology, and more and more to connect to the people in your life. Challenge yourself daily to meet someone new. Genuinely ask strangers how their day is going. Say hi to that person you met at a party a few weeks prior, even if you don’t remember their name. I promise you, once you take your identity out of technology and redirect that energy into tangible relationships, you will be on the fast track to a life of self-worth and contentment.