— An addiction is something that gets a hold of people. It tears them apart. It breaks them. It takes them to the bitter wilderness of enslavement. It holds people hostage until they can’t give of themselves any more. Then it starts all over again. —
I have seen the best of persons go down in flames due to the enslavement of some type of addiction. My last blog post was about my brother’s alcohol war that he lost.
Today I went to talk about another addiction:
Cell Phone Addiction. Yes, you are reading this correctly. If you are a parent, please don not allow your kids to get addicted to any tech gadgets.
A British poll showed that 61% of men hand 70% of women feel phone separation anxiety when they misplace or forget their smartphones.
A more extensive poll was done through Time Magazine’s Techland section where they polled 5,000 people in 8 different countries.
— 84 percent of respondents said that they could not go a single day without their cellphones.
— 50 percent of Americans sleep with their phone next to them like a teddy bear or a spouse, a number that includes more than 80 percent of 18-24 year olds.
— 20 percent of respondents check their phone every 10 minutes.
— 24 percent said they had used text messages to set up a rendezvous with someone they were having an affair with, a number that includes 56 percent of Chinese respondents.
This is an overwhelming amount of people who are addicted to their smartphones. I don’t know what else to say but this, anything that takes you away from living a God led life has become an idol to you. Some people have exchanged alcohol or drugs or porn for their smartphones and social media.
I was getting this way with social media and needed to take a hard break from all of it, except my blog posts which deal with life issues.
When I gave up the constant social media frenzy, something happened to my inner soul. I started seeing things in a deeper way. I wasn’t looking for approval from anyone, nor searching for the best pictures.
I am one of those people who takes a ton of pictures wherever I am. But the way I am taking pictures is different. I am taking and enjoying the moment. If I see something that inspires me, I will have a Selah moment of reflection. Then I will snap a picture. If I capture the moment, great. But if I don’t, it doesn’t rattle me. Because I was able to capture it in time. I also don’t read emails as much.
The average email count for me is about 300-400 a day. But I don’t spend the time looking at every word. I have learned to glance and speed read through the messages. If something hits me, I will reply or check into it. The rest are tossed.
Same with texts. Now, I am going to hear about this one from friends and family. But honestly, if it’s not from my immediate family, the text will be read as soon as possible but if it isn’t a reply worthy text, I will not reply with a lengthy message. I will send a thumbs up acknowledging that I have taken the time to read whatever the person has sent. This is not rude but efficient.
I will answer text fast so I don’t forget. But texts will not make me a slave to the messages.
Parents, I urge you to stop giving your kids so much technology in place of being outside and playing. Instead of having them spend hours and hours inside with their gadgets, let them spend the same amount of time outside, looking at God’s nature and all it’s wonderful things that it has to offer your children’s imaginations.
If you are an adult reading this, start fasting away from your smartphones. I have found that most people will go without eating while fasting, but can’t live without their smartphones. Now I ask you, which type of fasting do you need to do? One that you can live without or the one that you can’t go ten minutes without?….
If you are in need of help with addiction:
As always, if you need to make a fresh start and ask God into your life:
