Let's face it, our phones play a HUGE part of our lives—they are how we communicate, stay informed, document, and keep connected. A majority of us cannot imagine going just a few hours without using our phones (myself included).

I was unaware of just how dependent I had become on this little machine in my back pocket until recently, when I went through the tragedy(!!!) of losing my phone for a few days. During that time apart from my dearly beloved, it was made clear just how much I had used my phone on a daily basis.

I would reach in my purse to text a friend, take a picture, Google a random fact, stalk someone of Facebook, Snapchat something funny, find directions to a restaurant, or play music on Spotify, and I would come up empty handed. Each time this happened I became more and more aware of how much my life revolved around something the size of my hand.

As the days went on, I started to reach for my back pocket less and less—I slowly started to look up rather than down.

When I started to look up, I recognized a major thing that I hadn't seen before—I was not alone in this cellular dependency. Everywhere I looked people had their heads down looking at screens. In restaurants, I saw family dinners that consisted of a few minutes of conversation followed by ten minutes of solid phone watching. I saw people on the beach who were ignoring the beautiful day and instead were glued to their screens. I watched people in cars who were more preoccupied with their phones than the road. I saw people trying to capture moments that simply could not be captured. I saw a world of people who weren’t seeing the world.

It dawned on me that I, too, am one of those people, letting life pass me by as I stare at a 5x2" screen. It was then that I decided to make a conscious effort not to let my phone rule my life.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not proposing that we all throw our phones in the trash and call it quits on all of our technology (I think that would result in us moving backwards), but rather I am suggesting we all simply take some time to look up.

Put down the phone at dinner and actually talk to the people sitting next you (maybe even make it a rule to put all the phones middle of the table). The conversations and stories shared at the dinner table will become more important to you than the text you were going to send.

Try actually experiencing funny and exciting moments rather than attempting to capture them in a ten-second Snapchat.

Look at the beauty of a breathtaking view without worrying about how many Instagram likes you can get.

Go to a concert and listen to music that sounds so much better live than coming out of your phone.

Try not to worry about finding the Wi-Fi password everywhere you go.

Call your friends and family to catch up with them so you can really HEAR how they are doing.

Take the time that you are mindlessly looking at your phone to do something productive and fun.

I am not naïve in the fact that phones will continue to play a major part in our lives (this became apparent to me when I experienced pure joy as I found my phone…seriously it was like I found my lost child) BUT I think we can take some time to loosen the grip they have on us.

I believe our phones provide us with many benefits that I think we should continue to take advantage of in order to progress—just make sure that you do not let them prevent you from actually looking up and seeing what is right in front of you.