I
have a love/hate relationship with my cell phone. I love that I can have it
with me all the time. If someone needs to reach me there are a myriad of ways
to do so all accomplished via that phone. I hate though that I have my phone
with me all the time. It really serves as a distraction to so much more that is
going on around me so much so that I often revert to that little world with it’s
little screen out of habit much like an addict.
I
know that the phone at times separates me from those who mean the most to me.
My wife or daughter may be trying to tell me something but I am wrapped up trying to locate the song lyrics to some Dire Straits song from 1979. It may be time
to go somewhere but I am consumed with trying to spell a word with the letters
U, H, two Vs, two As and a C to finally beat the computer at Scrabble.
Mostly
though I think I have realized that the phone has come to fill in all the empty
spaces I recognize in-between the times I am doing something worthwhile. In
other words, when I feel I am bored I pull out my phone so I can check my home
email accounts, my work email account and browse Facebook again after only
having gone through the exact same routine five minutes earlier.
The
trade-off for me seems to be that now with no downtime from “boredom” I very
rarely give many things the deep consideration some of them deserve. I mean
what had I really rather do: give long, serious thought to the issues of the
day or look-up a TV commercial from 1976 on YouTube? Do I really want to think of
a plan to fix the door frames around our garage or do I want to study the icons
on my weather app in case I quickly need to determine the barometric pressure?
In
an earlier time we likened being bored with watching paint dry or watching
grass grow. Somehow though we made it through that kind of boredom without our
minds becoming mush. It seemed like we had more time, and respect, for one
another. And, for me, it seemed like so many of the things in life I really
needed to think about somehow had time to percolate long enough for an answer.
So,
maybe you are like me. The phone is great but it can also be a thief of time and
consideration. Maybe you know you really do not have a burning need to look at
Twitter to see what a cesspool of unchecked thought looks like today. Maybe you
know turning on the compass app on your phone then turning it this way and that
just to watch it spin means you need to focus on something more substantial. If
you recognize these things maybe it is time to press the reset button and you
can do so by using your phone.
If
you find you are bored because you are constantly picking up your phone then
wasting time put the phone to good use. Click one of the links below to watch
the grass grow or paint dry. When you start a video, set the phone down so you
can let your mind turn to something you need to do. Better yet, turn off the
video, put the phone down then go do something for somebody who could really
need the company or help only you can provide that person.
I’ll
just leave this right here in case you need it. No charging necessary.
