Becoming Smarter than your Smartphone

April 27, 2014

Having to fill a whole day of appointments and sticking to a schedule has become the American way.  I am just as guilty of this as the next guy.  I grew up in a generation without all of the techy gadgets that exist today.  When I went to Disney World in the 70s, Epcot had a ride that you would sit in and it would bring you through a visual world of the future.  I remember looking at ovens that would cook food in 2 minutes and thinking, that's a great concept but how can that ever be possible?  Well, I don't think there is a home today that doesn't have a microwave oven.  Along with this future invention, I remember seeing TV monitors that would allow you to see the person you were having a phone conversation with.  For me, the only frame of reference I had at that time that resembled this future existence was the TV cartoon, "The Jetsons".  This cartoon family lived in a world full of modern day conveniences, appliances and gadgets that helped them live a very fast paced life with not having to wait for anything.  It gave multi-tasking a whole new meaning.  When I think of this cartoon, memories of George Jetson, the family dad, standing on a conveyer belt on his way to work is what comes to my mind.  There was no need for him to walk, as the belt zipped him from his kitchen where there was an assembly line of gadgets that would cook his food, to help him get dressed to housekeepers that were robots, to his flying car that would get him to his office.  Who knew that the visionaries who created this show would be so on target?  All these years later, we have all of these conveniences, and the flying car? Trust me, they are working on it.   But how much is too much?  I admit, I have a laptop, a desktop, an ipad, a mini-ipad, a kindle, and an I-phone.  Am I missing anything?  Probably.  The point is, we all use all of these on a daily basis and our lives have become dependent upon them. 

The other day, on my way to a dentist appointment, I left my home in a hurry and I forgot my smart phone.  When I pulled out of my driveway and was half way to my appointment, I realized that my trusty companion was not by my side.  I suddenly realized that I felt disconnected from the entire world at that moment.  Not only did I not like the feeling, but also I almost considered turning my car around.  My next thought was - the location I was going to had a landline phone and my family knew my location and could find me god forbid of an emergency.  When I got to my destination and I had to sit in the waiting room, there were a few outdated magazines on the waiting room shelf.  Nothing that I was even remotely interested in reading.  Call me crazy but I was going through withdrawals as I watched the people waiting and the entire waiting room had their heads bowed down, flipping through god knows what on their phones and tablets.  Waiting for my name to be called seemed like an eternity as I was forced to sit down, alone with my thoughts.  Can you imagine? My thoughts? Uninterrupted by emails, phone calls, calendars and Facebook?

As I was ushered into my appointment, and after some x-rays were taken, the dentist was called into the next room with an emergency he needed to tend to.  This event left me alone in the dental chair in the reclined position.  Not having any communication to the outside world, I was forced to just lie there.  Many thoughts were flooding through my mind from planning my upcoming week to concern's about my family and friends and their problems and worries. In this moment I realized that without the distraction of the constant stimulation from my NOT so smart phone, I needed to decide how I was going to spend the next hour or so.  I decided that I had a choice so I decided wisely.  Mentally I sent my family and friends love and light and said a prayer that they find peace and the answers to their dilemmas.  Oh, and the best part was I didn't need to download an app to do this. I also decided that I could use this time to enhance my energy.  So I pushed any thoughts that were not pleasant out of my mind and continued to visualize a peaceful white light above my head.  I allowed this light to enter the top of my head and then to come in my whole body.  I pictured this light re-energizing all of my cells and asked it to enter anywhere I felt it could touch my vibration and heal any physical issues as well as emotional ones.  Time flew by as I drifted into a time lapse.  I literally had to force myself to come out of the blissfulness when I heard the nurse call my name back into the room.  I immediately realized that leaving home without my phone was a blessing.  I felt refreshed and renewed.

Human nature can be funny sometimes.  In order for us to escape our own thoughts, we are not only becoming programmed to take a peek into the outside world through our gadgets, but we have become addicted to them. It has literally become an epidemic in our society.   As like anything else which was invented to help humanity multi-task or become advanced (Note: I am a huge advocate for social media outlets and technology and love my gadgets just as much as you do), however, finding a balance is the key.  Allow yourself to be alone with your thoughts without interruptions.  Even if its for two hours a day.  When I leave home, now I purposely leave my phone in my car or my bag.  I realized that it is so easy to get caught up in the technological world that has taken over our population. Of course we all need to conduct our business in an efficient way and so it is necessary to check on things.  However, try not to let the cyber world take the place of the human condition.  Pick your head up from your phone or tablet and smile at a stranger while in public.  Making eye contact with people, rather than walking the streets surfing cyber space can start to bring us back to our selves.  Although the Internet does a good job in keeping the world connected; the only true connections are created by LOVE....

Namaste xoxo

Kim