24/7 on cellphone? We call it an addiction and obsession at times too but there is a significant difference between the two. Cell phones are actually the new addiction, we can’t help ourselves. When we use mobile phone, we naturally feel pleased as people are accepting us as we get more active on phone. The addiction often is born from pleasure even the most harmless things can become addictive like cellphones. As per a study of scientists it is proved that chemicals in our brain are directly linked to happiness when we receive any kind of notification on our phone, it shows we are attached to material happiness.
The addiction of phone is really harmful to our eyes and ears when we’re using our phones to talk or surf the web from our couches or lying in the bed but it gets deadly when we’re behind the wheel, our addiction can literally can kill us!
Picking up calls while driving can kill. Just as science proved there is no safe way to smoke, science continues to prove there is no safe way to talk on a cell phone and drive not even hands-free as our focus from roads get diverted to the topic we are discussing on the call.
Let’s take a real life example here, many of you go on vacations to different places, we go to the mountains, we visit the malls, we see city lights, we see clouds gathering to pour rain, all these sights are so beautiful when you actually witness them with your own eyes but now a days, we are more in a hurry and rush to capture the moment even before our eyes have fully absorbed the view already. These days’ people are always busily snapping pictures instead of simply looking and experiencing the magnificent views. I doubt whether they can have the same experience of nature through that small lens. Will those who were taking videos and photos get the same enjoyment by reliving the views rather than experiencing them? Will they even watch those videos or photos again? The real thing is that by choosing to not miss out on their virtual social world they are missing out on their real social world right in front of their face.
We are always busy texting and Snapchat-ing and chatting through Kik or Viber to our friends. It’s compulsory for us to Instagram the food we eat and post a check in where we are on Facebook and that’s all before lunch. Our cell phone sits right next to our pillow in bed before we sleep/after we wake up. We begin to get tinges of anxiety when our precious phone shows that there is only 20 percent battery level left. That little threatening icon of low battery on the screen is the sworn enemy which is why it’s rare you’ll find anyone without power bank.
We can’t seem to get by without some sort of interaction with our phone. We go out with our friends and family and we are always busy taping on the phone screen and giving others the impression that that are boring, unwanted and not entertaining. At concerts, we’re usually enjoying the concert through the lens of the camera rather than enjoying it as it is meant to be experienced.
We all have friends whose faces, we meet daily but we haven’t seen their faces properly in years because they’re always looking down at their phone but we so know the top of their head very well. If this is enjoying and experiencing life then let’s face one thing- we aren’t experiencing life. We’re losing moments with every tap. We are cheating ourselves, really and literally. We may be physically present with our friends and loved ones but we’re textually with someone else or checking a sports score or tweeting or updating Facebook status.
Here’s challenge that we all need to try: Put down your phone. Be present and be in the moment for just one day. Enjoy the conversation of those that are physically present with you, give time to those who have chosen to take time out of their lives and spend it with you. Watch an entire movie without checking your phone. Have a full conversation without glancing at the phone screen. Disconnect for just a moment. Bet on this, you’ll experience life fully.
