Stop.
Think for a minute.
When was the last time you took a few precious moments or even hours just for yourself? You without your friends, without your family, without music. The you without your phone. When was the last time you took a walk outside in the nice weather and held your head high breathing in the air and listening to the birds chirping instead of walking with your head bent down, listening to the latest music release? When was it? Was it ever?
I find it interesting that when our phones consist of low battery, our performance seems to be compromised as well. We go out as if our night is ruined by that number draining. We call out "Yo, does anyone have a charger?" and five hands go up.
What kind of world is this?
An artist recently did a project where he took photos and removed phones from the context of it, and its truly disturbing. Check it out if you don't believe me that we're addicted to our phones. Or even read one of my past articles expressing just how bad it's become on college campuses. We ask friends if we can meet up and "hang out" only to wind up standing or sitting next to one another, half listening, half engulfed into our phones because we'd rather be electronically connected than emotionally and socially connected.
We spend our days in this instant satisfaction type of lifestyle. If we have a question we Google it. If we want to tell a person something, we text them. If we want to take a picture, we use Snapchat and take a selfie. Think about it, there used to be avid users of dictionaries, thesauruses, telegrams, handwritten letters, and real-life messengers. There used to be polaroids, the actual polaroids people, and flash bulb cameras. Life never used to be as "satisfactory" as it is today. Yet despite the fact that we have these instant satisfaction lifestyles, we are still unsatisfied.
Why?
What's so bad about not having a phone on you 24/7? What's so bad about standing in "awkward silence" while waiting in line, or sitting on the bus? What's so bad about not posting on social media for a day? What's so bad about taking a break and investing in you instead of your "followers" that give you so much validation?
Check your intentions first. Take a break and ask yourself why you're on your phone so much. Is it because of anxiety? Depression? Loneliness? Or is it because of insecurities? Addictions? Poor social skills or something else?
I'm sorry but none of these things will improve or "magically disappear" because the internet says do this or that. They won't disappear because you're not actually working on improving them. You're feeding them and they're only getting worse. Ask yourself this question: "Could I last one day without my phone? 24 whole hours?" If you answered no, like most of you did, or lied saying "I totally could" but deep down you know five minutes in you'd automatically reach for it: then congratulations you need a reality check. You need to re-evaluate your priorities. Re-evaluate what you're truly searching for in life. Google doesn't have all the answers. Web MD basically tells you you're going to die. The amount of twitter followers will never be enough. You'll never have enough hearts on Instagram. You'll never be satisfied. So why do you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?? Wake up people. It's time you start addressing the issues instead of drowning them in your phones, avoiding the very people around you that can help you and be there for you.
