Last week I confessed to being obsessed with social media in my article "I'm A Technology Addict." I recognized how consumed I am by everything technology has to offer. I walk around every day looking down, eyes glued to my glowing screen. But this week I decided to look up.

I haven't been on social media in a week, and while I wish I could say that I have had a magical cure and no longer have a desire for my phone, that would be a lie. If anything, this week showed me how strong my addiction is. I found myself scrolling through Twitter without even recognizing it on the first day of my social media "fast." I had to place my apps in a specific folder titled DO NOT USE in order to avoid opening them by mistake.

I expected that after this break from technology I would have a lot of new insights or realizations to share with you, and while I have a few, the biggest thing I recognized is that I am dependent on my phone. Even though I couldn't be on social media, I found myself refreshing my email app and checking the weather like it was the most intriguing part of my day. I scrolled through the photos on my phone during any spare moment. What I realized after this week of social media sobriety is that my addiction to my phone is absurd. I was refreshing email. My phone hardly left my hand, and I couldn't even use it for anything. I am so dependent on my cell phone that I can't even be apart from it when it serves little purpose.

Now while the realization that my addiction runs deeper than I originally thought was disturbing, this week was not a total loss. I did recognize positive changes that resulted from my lack of social media exposure.

As I showed in my last article, social media was taking up far too much of my time. I learned this week the value of that time. Rather than sitting on my phone as I watched movies, talked with friends, and waited for class to start, I actually used that time for what it was worth. I found myself paying attention to what was going on around me and noticed how much more time I had in a day when I wasn't spending hours on my phone.

In the absence of social media, I felt better about myself. I woke up and started my days refreshed rather than bogged down by whatever negative post I saw on Facebook. I didn't worry about taking pictures of my meals or of what I was doing and enjoyed the moments instead. I didn't fret over how I looked in a Snapchat before sending it. In fact I didn't really think about what I looked like at all. I didn't compare my day-to-day life with those around me because I was oblivious to what other people were posting.

This week without social media made me recognize what I am losing by being addicted to my phone. I lose time. I lose moments. I lose my self worth.

Now I'm not saying I'm never going on social media again because, despite all of these downfalls, social media is still a useful and fun experience. But like all things, it's good in moderation. Social media is great when it remains a social thing. But when it becomes addictive, when it becomes our only way of communicating, and when it becomes the thing that we base our life's worth on is when it becomes an issue.

So my message for you: Stay logged into both worlds.