Don’t you just love phones? The handheld kind, not those antiques you have to plug in and dial with buttons. Phones are amazing. They wake you up, they remind you of all the stuff you have to do every day, they have your shopping lists, your books, your lecture notes, your work schedule and most importantly, they have Facebook.
Young people get so much flack for being on their phones, but it’s on them that we organise, communicate and sometimes just chill out. Those pockets of time when you’re waiting for your appointment or walking to work aren’t interesting. While our phones are the organisational and communications devices of today, there is a truth in the idea that we spend too much time on them. Being on them so often makes it easy to miss the amazing things that are going on around us and for a life so short, we can’t afford to let those moments slip by. So just to remind you, here are three things you could be missing by being on your phone too much.
Beauty
Beautiful happenings in the world come and go quickly. Sunsets, a hummingbird dipping into a flower or a magnificent thunderstorm all last mere moments. If something that could blow your mind happened just a few yards from you during a typical day, would you know? It’s easy enough for things to pass us by without a screen in front of our faces. The many wonders of our world are unpredictable and sometimes poorly timed. If we are to have truly spectacular lives and witness every mind-blowing moment we stumble into, we need to pay attention.
So when you’re out for your morning constitutional or you’re popping down to the shops, press the shuffle button on your playlist and tuck your phone away. Who knows what you might see?
Conversation
Sometimes we just want to keep to ourselves when we’re out and about, and it’s important to indulge those feelings. But from time to time a passing conversation with a stranger could be just the thing we didn’t know we needed. Having a natter about the weather might seem meaningless but social interaction does good things to our brain, and better yet, you may be the only person that stranger will speak to that day. That short conversation might not mean much to you, but it could mean a great deal more to your conversational partner.
If you’re not feeling the pull of isolation, take out your earbuds and have a short chat with a stranger. Before your bus ride is over, you might have a whole bunch of new stories to tell.
Humanity
The scariest thing about our phones is that they can detach us from reality. Video footage of fights, muggings and worse demonstrate that more of us are happier to film something crazy happening than to stop anyone getting hurt and avoid damage. It’s human nature to want to avoid trouble but filming harmful situations on our phones detaches us even further from the situation to the point where we don’t feel present enough to be of any help. But as fit, young people with more common sense and initiative than we sometimes like to admit, we are entirely capable of pitching in to help, even if our help is just a call to the authorities.
As marvellous as our phones are, more often than not we need to stow our phones in our pockets, our bags or a locked safe. Our lives are more digital than they’ve ever been, but likes, comments and shares will never be as beautiful or as important as what we see and do in the real world. Go cold-turkey and do away with your addiction for a day; it’ll be worth it!
Featured image via Pexels
