Technology has made zombies out of all of us. You see these zombie like people everywhere. Grocery store aisles, playgrounds, shopping malls, walking down the street. Cell phones, iPads, tablets and any other gadget that I am unaware that has recently hit the markets have taken over our lives. Smart watches, smart phones, smart everything. I'm not sure I would go so far as calling these things smart. They have sucked our brains dry. They do everything for us. All we have to do is click, scroll, swipe and touch. Not much intelligence required there, really. We have become slaves to electronics.
The zombies that completely infuriate me are the parents at the park with their children, but how about we not even start on that right now. How about we just discuss this electronic zombie epidemic and how we can possibly eradicate it. Ok maybe that's a bit of a pipe dream but can't we at least control it even if only for a little while?
I'm no saint. I am guilty of checking my phone when I shouldn't be or playing on my tablet when I could really be doing something far more productive. I noticed a while back that I had fallen prey to this gross zombie craze and knew I had better nip it in the butt before he took h old of my entire life. So I did. And something kind of wonderful happened. I wanted to spend less time with my electronics and more time with me, my family and my life. I started with one day a week and this is what I discovered.
1. I became more aware of the people around me, what they were talking about and what their interests were.
I suddenly became interested in people again, like I was before electronics took over my life. I realized that people are awesome. Relationships are beautiful and human connections are important and vital for our growth.
2. I had more energy.
This may surprise you but I actually wanted to do more fun things. Hiking, walking, swimming, and other activities, indoor and outdoor. I became more active and discovered that I was having a lot of fun. I was having so much fun, in fact, that I started doing more active things 4 days a week where before I did none.
3. Be part of the community.
I spent more time connecting with the people in and around my neighbourhood and community and found myself helping out and volunteering even. I realized that giving in person is even more rewarding then giving on line. To be able to see smiles, real smiles, of people you have just helped. Well no electronic gadget can replace that or out do that.
4. I had more time to learn new things.
I started to pick up books, real hard copy books and spend time by the window in the sun reading and learning and even taking notes. It's great to actually use pen and paper like we used to before WordPress came into existence. We've lost the art of penmanship, which I've always thought was brilliant. It's nice to keep it alive.
5. Time out.
A lot of the things we read and see on our cell phones, on our feeds, is mostly news, negative, stressful and toxic. We are subjected to that constantly. Imagine what all that negativity is doing to you. Do you honestly think it just falls off to the wayside? Nope, we carry all that energy with us throughout the day. It's not as easy I unplugged, I felt better, happier, less toxic with much less anxiety. And speaking of anxiety … .
6. My anxiety levels reduced greatly.
I remember having to check my phone for updates like a fanatic. It was constant anxiety. Did they reply? What's the latest update on that post? Who replied to my ad? What's going on over in the Middle East? Yes, it was becoming overwhelming and so was my stress level. I unplugged and my anxiety was gone. I became less interested in the happenings of the online world and realized that when I checked it t he next day, I really didn't miss much anyway.
I'm happy to unplug daily now for a period of time. Hang out with family, be one with nature and simply enjoying life. If I can ever give anyone the best advice, it would be to take time to unplug each week for one day. When you do this, unplugging daily for a set amount of time will be easy to do and most welcomed. Try it, you'll see.
Some Amazing Comments
Comments
