#SmartphoneFree: But He Lost What He Had

"He got what he wanted (but he lost what he had)…"

We often seem to think about what we would lose if we had to give up something and rarely think about what we might gain.

With our smartphone use we gained what we wanted.

We got instant access to all the knowledge in the world, an foolproof way to navigate from A to B, increased communication, the ability to shop 24/7 from the comfort of your own home, an endless stream of cat videos and so on. We even got loads of stuff we didn't know we wanted but definitely think we want now we've got it.

But we also lost what we had.

We lost time alone with our thoughts. We lost proper conversations face to face. We lost time spent with our families. We lost the experience of wandering and noticing what goes on around us. We lost time. We lost money. We lost relationships.

Yet we also forget what we lost and think that their replacements are even better.

We think we gained knowledge, inspiration and improvement by being constantly influenced by a multitude of minds through podcasts, vlogs, blogs, articles, tweets and status updates. We think we gained better communication because it is so instant and easy and constant. We think we gained quality family time because it looks so good to our friends on Instagram and Facebook. We think we gained a world-wide perspective because our phone and computers regularly update their home screens with beautiful pictures from around the globe. We think we gained time because we can do things so much more quickly. We think we gained money because it's so much easier to find a bargain or sell on our unwanted stuff. We think we gained relationships because we connect with hundreds and thousands of people on a daily basis.

We got what we wanted and we lost what we had. And what we wanted turns out not to be what we really needed. And what we had, in the end, for some us, is what we want again.

If that's you - the one who knows that they want again what they once had - then think not what you might lose from giving up your smartphone, or your social media accounts, but what you might gain. And just do it. It's really not as bad as you think it's going to be.