Freedom from...my cell phone?

Last night I was having a conversation with a friend about how I want to be more present with the people I am currently physically with instead of always feeling the need to run to my phone to respond to text messages to people elsewhere (who are probably with other people as well).

I have noticed recently that I have become so accustomed to text messaging that I want to send a friendly txt or movie quote to a friend at random times of the day, whenever inspiration hits -whether or not I am with other friends at the time. The cell phone has created this phenomenon that I don't think I would otherwise have acquired. I've found that I'm walking along the paths at school with my head down and trying not to run into things, trees or other people.

As a result,this friend challenged me to go a day without texting or facebooking anyone who was not at school with me (with the exception of my family). I didn't want to accept the challenge but the competitiveness in me took over and I accepted the challenge.

Wow I learned a lot.

This morning on my way to breakfast, I had more focused conversation with my roommate who was walking beside me. Later in the day I noticed the trees and birds around me on the paths. I even was able to make eye contact with people and have short little conversations with them. I wasn't even distracted in class to answer text messages. Not that I don't normally notice the trees or talk to people on the path, but I didn't feel the urgency to use the "unstructured" time to be texting or calling people. It was so refreshing. I was able to enjoy my surroundings. I even heard something rather profound from God because I wasn't distracted by my phone. (I think I'm going to start putting my phone on silent when I have my time with God because no one is more important than God and text messages can wait. )

I'm so thankful for this exercise. It really made me think about how I am spending my time when I am with my friends. No, I'm not going to stop texting, but I am going to try to be more aware of what is going on around me and be more intentional with the people I am with - afterall, I won't be with them forever.