Asleep By SmartPhones

This one is getting to be an epidemic.  Our smartphones can be so helpful, but they can also keep us so disconnected and asleep. It is getting sad these days, as I look around and no one is paying attention to anything but their smartphones.

In the example posted on the blog post, Are You Asleep, there are some issues with Sally and her smartphone.  She can go to her happy and safe place with her phone.  Yes, it is disconnecting from everyone, but hey she is still there present with them, although asleep. 

Yes, we can probably chime in and say, "Oh I hate it - everyone is on their smartphones these days but not paying attention".  Yet,... and this is a big YET, we fail to see we are doing the same thing.  We're too asleep to notice.  We're too disconnected to notice what we do.

It is easy to point the finger at others, but with the majority of people doing it, we might need to realize that three fingers are pointing back at ourselves.  It isn't just others that do this!  That's the point I'm trying to make.

Smartphones can be good.  I love them.  I love what I can do on them, but sometimes (myself included), we let them control our lives.  If you don't think you do, try shutting it off for 24 hours and putting it away.  Let me know how that is going after an hour or two.

We connect to so many people online, but in many ways we don't connect with anyone.  We just stay behind a screen of likes, favorites, shares and forwards.  We just don't engage with others in a humanistic way.  We are asleep and disconnected and numb for the most part.

If we could limit ourselves and find balance, it would be helpful to the mind and body.  It would make us all more human, rather than these high strung opinionated people we are becoming.

Humans require physical communication with one another, I believe.  I'm not sure I believe that smartphones rise to that level. In the long run, they are hurting us.  They are hurting us because we have lost our balance, and grown asleep in our lives.

Make sure you check out the next part in this 11 part series

 Part 10 is "Feeling Pain In The Body"

 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Take The Disconnect Challenge

Yes, I know that we're dependent upon these electronic devices permanently affixed between our thumbs.  We go through our day so attached as if every breath depends upon the latest Facebook post, Tweet, Snapchat or Instagram posted.

I'm just wondering these days if we can actually put the phone down.  Can we stop for 30 minutes or even for a meal?  Can we stop and wait in a line without doing it?

I'm just as guilty of this as everyone else.  The smart phone has changed the habits of the world. Don't believe me?  Just take a moment to look up from your smartphone and see!

So will you take the disconnect challenge?  Disconnect from your phone at some point during the day.  Maybe for you it is during a meal.  Possibly it is during a favorite TV show you like.  Maybe it is while you wait in line at the store.

Can You Unplug?

Its amazing how much we all are "on" these days in our lives.  It is very difficult to fully unplug.  I mean, look at how many smart phones, tablets, PC's and other devices we are using these days.  So my question is "can you unplug?"

I thought I could, but then I realize that my work email never fully stops.  With people in different time zones and on different projects, it truly never ends.  Yes, it may slow down, but the darn pesky thing just keeps showing up at all hours of the day and night.

I thought I could unplug, but then I get hooked on a message thread with Facebook, or instead of someone giving me a call, they instant message me on Facebook.  Most of the time it isn't that critical, but sometimes it is.  So again, I'm not sure I can fully walk away from it.