Being a human

Technology never ceases to amaze me. One click of a button and you could be staring at a live video of somebody in a different timezone, in a completely different part of the world. In just a few minutes you could make a plan with 6 of your friends; organise a time, place and date whilst all of you are sitting in different houses doing different things. You could suddenly remember you forgot to buy a present for someone you are due to meet the following evening and Amazon will save the day by delivering a gift the very next morning. You get the idea.

Recently I was feeling a bit low and I just wanted to shut myself out from my phone, the internet, my 'cyber life'. It was only when I found myself asking the question 'what am I going to do instead?' that I realised how crazy the world is. I forget that there is a whole life away from my phone and away from my computer. It suddenly dawned on me how much time I spend watching other people live their lives; whether it's watching YouTube Vloggers or refreshing my Instagram and Facebook newsfeeds. I wonder how many hours of my life I've wasted doing just that, when I could be doing something far more valuable with my time? Like focusing on self development; learning new skills, looking after myself, getting more organised. I think we live in an age where the majority of people we know have some sort of social anxiety, lack of confidence and mild depression and I would say we have technology and social media to blame for that, or at least the amount of time we allow ourselves to spend using them.

I'm not saying I'm going to join a cult, practice a new religion and stop using electrical devices altogether, but I think this realisation has made me more aware of how valuable time is and how important it is to step away from my phone from time to time.

Technology is so advanced and we depend on it. We live from it, we work from it, we have a whole life story of photos somewhere in the cloud and I think we need to remind ourselves occasionally that we are humans. We are not robots. So after I've written this blog post I'm going to continue doing what I have done for the past 4 days and put down my phone, pick up a book, make myself a cup of tea and enjoy not worrying about emails, Instagram and Facebook feeds or who's talking to me on WhatsApp and have a well deserved relaxed evening.

Mel x

Stop wishing away time

When I was in infant school, I desperately wanted to be in Junior School as I always looked up to the bigger kids. Then when I was in Junior School, I wanted to be in Secondary School so my parents would let me have more responsibility. Then when I reached secondary school, I was so excited to turn 16 as I thought that would mean I had everything I needed to get by in life (i.e puberty, a job, independence), then when I reached 16 I wanted to be 17 so I could drive, then 18 so I could drink. I thought I'd be 100% happy by that point, except I got a job at a managerial level when I turned 19 and everyone I worked with was about a decade older than me, so I was embarrassed of my age and actually in denial about it. I wanted to be in my mid 20s so I was taken more seriously and had more in common with the people I worked with.

I'm now at the ripe old age of 24 and for the first time in my life, I don't want to get any older. I want to be young again. Life is scary and I'm no longer wishing it away. If anything, I am so annoyed at my past self for being so ambitious and wishing away all of those years. I feel like I didn't really enjoy them because I was always wishing for something more.

I think this realisation has come a little too late, but also at a safe time. I've realised that I am always wishing away time and if I have any new years resolutions this year, the main one is to start enjoying the moment. I find myself wishing away time even when I don't mean to. Like wishing away the hours in the day so I can go home, or wishing away the days in the week so it can be the weekend, then wishing away the weeks so I can get paid, or wishing away months because I am going on holiday. I think I just need to be more aware of the moment. Really enjoy the present time and make the most of it because when it comes down to it, time is the most valuable thing there is.

Mel x