No Distractions - Why I Got Rid Of My Smart Phone

I got rid of my smart phone recently.



I had an Android phone for a few years and I took the plunge and demoted myself down to a simple flip-phone. It still has the only app I ever really cared about from my Android days: the music player.



The drop down to a "stupid" phone, as some people call them, was for a simple reason: to cut out distractions. I have cut out other distractions from my life recently as well. TV shows, video games, stuff I don't need.... Most people haven't even commented on the fact that I have a simple phone now. I think they may be too involved with their own smartphones to even notice.


Without a smartphone, I find myself less distracted. I can more easily focus my time and my day on what I really want to do. What really matters. I have more time to exercise, to write, to be fully in the moment during a conversation with friends and loved ones. How many times have you talked with someone and they paid more attention to the latest Facebook updates on their phone? There are so many things that we can do with smart phones now that it can easily take up all your time. Why not cut out the unnecessary bells and whistles and live a life of meaningful choices?

Giving Up Junk Food

Last night I did something awful...

I ate way too many Doritos.

Eating Doritos, or any other chips, or any other junk food (cake, candy, cinnamon buns), isn't inherently a bad thing. I have nothing against enjoying a snack. I really love chips actually. You could ay, I have a weakness for salty snacks (particularly Doritos).

 

However, the past few months I have delved into the world of healthy eating. I have cut down on my salty snacks intake and (almost) abandoned eating out at restaurants and especially fast food places. I eat salads every day and have drastically increased my vegetable and fruit intake. And you know? I feel like I am the healthiest I have ever been (of course regular exercise has played a part in this).

 

So, I recently came up with a new challenge for myself. I am going to give up junk food for a month, starting on Sept. 1, 2014. That is my official start date for my junk fasting, but I will be eating fairly well up until then. My awful feeling after consuming that bunch of Doritos last night has definitely been a good motivator. Junk food just doesn't make me feel good anymore. And for people who say they couldn't give up their candy and their snacks, that they have a right to enjoy life: I am enjoying life just fine without those things.

 

I will start writing updates on my no junk food quest starting on Sept 1. No fast food, no chips, no chocolate or candy or soda. I might have to come up with a set of guidelines and rules for myself and I'll most likely post that on my first post.

 

Now I am going to enjoy my morning snack of crackers and hummus :)

Meditation

The past few months I have discovered the joy of meditation. At first it was just difficult to sit there and try not to think. I felt like a fool. I felt like I was wasting time when I could be doing something.

But then something happened. I felt free. My mind felt like it was able to let go of emotion, thought, and sensation and just....be.

For me, meditating every day has become a way of life. It has been a great practice to help me focus on what I want out of my life and cut down the distractions that our modern society seems to continuously throw at us. It has been perhaps the best choice I made this year.

If you want to learn a little more about meditation, check out this very good interview that Joshua Fields Millburn from the Minimalists did with Dan Harris.

Fighting The Voice In Your Head

At the end of their discussion, there is a link to a great guided meditation from Sam Harris, a fellow who writes some very though-provoking essays on his website. Here is the link to those guided meditations, which I still frequently use (I am still a beginner after all!)

The Mirror of Mindfulness - Two Guided Meditations

Money Trumps Life

Today, at my workplace, I honestly overhead a coworker say this statement:

 "Money trumps life."

Nor am I all that surprised. I hear a lot of people talk about money at my place of employment. It is the goal. The ultimate dream. More money. I can make good money with that job. I'll be making a lot more next year if I get that promotion. During a class discussion about what motivates people to achieve something, a fellow student proudly spoke up: "money!" The first and the loudest answer to the question of motivation.

I want to question this though. Is money really the most important thing in life? Is it the reason we work our jobs, or get up in the morning? Is my whole life goal to just make as much money as possible? I don't think so.

I've read a lot about minimalism and living an intentional life lately. I love these concepts. I am also reading a lot about the concept of moneyless living. Another great idea, but it is a little more extreme than just minimalism and living intentionally. However, I want to live a simple life. To me the beauty of life is the experience of it. A good book. A nice meal. A laugh with a friend. Holding hands with someone you love. None of these need to be bound to money. I think a lot of us have lost sight of what truly makes us happy for the goal of simply making money, keeping us trapped in a society we are not really happy with for the gain of a concept that is merely an illusion.

Money = Illusion. It isn't real.

I leave you with this great speech from philosopher Alan Watts. What if money were no object? What would you really want to do with your life?