Ever since I got my first smart phone in 8th grade, I became attached to social media. Taking selfies, keeping streaks on Snapchat, and posting about what I was doing or feeling ever chance I got. For the longest time, this worked for me. I loved seeing my likes on pictures I posted increase by the hour, getting comments on my posts, and spending hours mindlessly looking at other people's feeds.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I began to realize this was affecting my life in more of a negative way than a positive one.

Ever since cutting down my hours spent on social media, i've come to discover things i'd been missing out on. One example would be my interactions with people. Before this, I used to use social as a way to be more comfortable in social settings. If I felt uncomfortable or awkward in a certain scenario, I would instantly pull out my phone to browse on one of those platforms. Now, I challenge myself to get through uncomfortable situations and genuinely make an effort when talking to people.

Stepping away from social media has also made me realize that just because you didn't post a picture or write about something you did, does not mean it didn't happen or that it was less important. The experiences I have now tend to be more genuine and I appreciate these moments more now since i'm not worrying about posting about it.

I am finding that each day becomes a bit easier to step away from my phone and appreciate life in the real world. It is a great feeling to sometimes just shut off the phone and escape that digital world for a little as it tends to get overwhelming for me.

I truly believe that the more we stop and take in the experiences we have everyday, the more at peace we can feel with ourselves and with others as well. I find this small component of a lifestyle chance to be helping me tremendously with figuring out how I want to live, and I think it is important that we can recognize those things within our own journey's.