I forgot my phone.
Then I did something almost unthinkable…
I LEFT WITHOUT IT.
For two hours…
the world somehow survived.
And so did I.
It happened unexpectedly.
I had made my plans.
Left the house.
Reached the car.
Then I realized…
I FORGOT MY PHONE.
Normally, this would trigger the automatic response:
GO BACK AND GET IT.
But this time…
I stopped.
PAUSE FOR CAUSE.
Should I go back upstairs?
Or…
should I leave it there?
Interesting question.
NO…I DON’T THINK I WILL
I decided against:
my business routine,
years of habit,
and that little voice insisting:
YOU NEED YOUR PHONE.
For the next two hours…
I would simply be unavailable.
Imagine that.
LOL.
Why?
Because I had forgotten what being unavailable felt like.
And suddenly…
I wanted to visit with it again.
At first…
VERY STRANGE.
THE ATTACK OF THE WHAT-IFS
Then they arrived.
WHAT IF somebody calls?
WHAT IF there is an emergency?
WHAT IF I miss an opportunity?
WHAT IF I need directions?
WHAT IF I need to make a call?
WHAT IF…
WHAT IF…
WHAT IF…
Wow.
All of that…
because one little device was sitting safely at home.
Nothing had actually happened.
But my mind was already manufacturing emergencies.
That told me something.
I had become more attached to the phone than I realized.
FOOD…CHECK
WATER…CHECK
SMARTPHONE…CHECK
Think about what has happened.
There was a time when people left home carrying:
keys,
wallet,
maybe a watch.
Now?
PHONE.
It contains:
contacts,
messages,
email,
calendar,
camera,
maps,
news,
business,
banking,
entertainment,
social media,
and half the information we think we need to function.
For many people…
it has become the office.
The map.
The newspaper.
The camera.
The address book.
The answering machine.
And sometimes…
the COMPANION.
That is quite a promotion for a telephone.
THE PHONE PHACTS
The phone has almost reached the category of:
wallet,
keys,
shoes,
or pants.
LOL.
YOU DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT.
I can remember times when my phone stopped working…
and suddenly my entire day became:
FIX THE PHONE.
Everything else was secondary.
That should tell you how important the device has become.
And maybe…
how dependent we have become on it.
I AM NOT ALONE
Someone called me one day and left a message.
I returned the call and left a message.
Later…
they called again.
“Why didn’t you call me back?”
BUT I DID…
sez I.
The person immediately became concerned.
“When?”
I explained.
Repeated part of the message they had originally left…
proving I had received it and called back.
Then came the panic.
MY PHONE IS NOT WORKING?
“Oh no!”
“I better find out why I didn’t get your message!”
“My whole business runs through this phone!”
They were genuinely shaken.
I understood completely.
Because I could relate.
WHEN DID THE TOOL BECOME THE MASTER?
That became the larger question.
The smartphone is an extraordinary tool.
No argument there.
It makes life:
faster,
easier,
safer,
more connected,
and more efficient.
But tools are supposed to SERVE us.
At some point…
we should occasionally ask:
AM I USING THE PHONE…
OR IS THE PHONE USING ME?
Every beep asks for attention.
Every notification creates an invitation.
Every message suggests:
LOOK AT ME NOW.
And pretty soon…
being reachable becomes the default condition of life.
AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY
Think about this.
For most of human history…
people were unavailable much of the time.
You left the house.
That was it.
Someone called?
You were not there.
They tried later.
The world continued rotating.
LOL.
Today…
we can be reached almost anywhere.
Any time.
That creates enormous convenience.
But it also creates an expectation.
WHY DIDN’T YOU ANSWER?
WHERE ARE YOU?
DID YOU SEE MY MESSAGE?
I TEXTED YOU TEN MINUTES AGO.
Availability has quietly changed from a benefit…
into an obligation.
That deserves examination.
NOT AVAILABLE…AND NOTHING HAPPENED
So what happened during my two-hour experiment?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
No catastrophe.
No major opportunity disappeared.
No emergency required my immediate presence.
No business collapsed.
Nobody sent out a search party.
LOL.
The world simply continued.
And so did I.
But ONE thing definitely happened.
I began experiencing something I had almost forgotten.
FREEDOM.
THE FEELING OF BEING UNREACHABLE
There was something surprisingly exhilarating about knowing:
Nobody can call me right now.
Nobody can text me.
No notification can interrupt this moment.
No email can demand attention.
I was simply…
WHERE I WAS.
That felt unusual.
And then…
wonderful.
I began noticing the environment differently.
There was no reason to look down.
Nothing to check.
Nothing buzzing.
Nothing waiting in my pocket.
Just:
the place,
the people,
the moment,
and ME.
THAT WAS REFRESHING.
THE PHONE DID NOT MISS ME EITHER
Another interesting discovery.
When I finally returned…
the phone had been perfectly fine without me.
LOL.
Whatever messages existed…
were still there.
Whatever needed answering…
could be answered.
Whatever could wait…
had waited.
My business plan had survived my rebellion.
Apparently…
I was not personally responsible for keeping civilization operating through cellular service.
That was good to know.
LOL.
TRY IT…DELIBERATELY
Now…
I am not suggesting throwing your phone into a lake.
I am not suggesting being unreachable when:
family,
health,
safety,
or business responsibilities
require availability.
Use common sense.
But perhaps once in a while…
deliberately put the phone down.
An hour.
A meal.
A walk.
A conversation.
A movie.
A morning.
Whatever works.
Turn off unnecessary notifications.
Leave the phone in another room.
Let your mind discover that not every empty second needs filling.
You may be surprised by what returns.
ATTENTION.
THE REAL LUXURY
People talk about luxury.
Cars.
Houses.
Vacations.
Restaurants.
Here is another luxury:
UNDIVIDED ATTENTION.
Your own.
To sit with somebody…
and not look at the phone.
To walk somewhere…
and actually see where you are.
To eat…
without scrolling.
To think…
without interruption.
To be bored long enough for imagination to come looking for you.
That has value.
A LOT OF VALUE.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Here is one Richie rule:
A smartphone is a wonderful servant…
but I am not interested in becoming its employee.
Another:
Being reachable is convenient.
Being unreachable once in a while can be FREEING.
And one more:
If you cannot put the phone down…
perhaps the phone is holding YOU.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
From the spirit of Pearls for the Soul:
“Attention becomes precious when we realize how freely we have been giving it away.”
From the spirit of God I AM:
“What is happening in front of you deserves enough stillness to actually be experienced.”
From the spirit of It Is Finished:
“Release the demand to respond to everything immediately and return to the moment already waiting for you.”
PEARLS INSIGHT
Smartphones combine many useful functions into one device, which naturally makes them central to daily life.
But constant connectivity can also fragment attention and create an expectation of continuous availability.
Intentional periods away from the phone can help people:
reduce interruptions,
notice their surroundings,
focus on conversations,
and become more aware of habitual checking.
The objective is not to reject technology.
It is to keep the relationship deliberate.
The phone should remain a tool…
not become the director of every available moment.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This connects directly with THIS PAUSE SYSTEM WILL HELP WITH QUALITY LIFE.
Sometimes the most useful PAUSE FOR CAUSE is simply not reaching for the phone.
It also connects with PONDER THE MYSTERY OF DOING NOTHING CORRECTLY.
Doing nothing becomes difficult when a device is always offering something to do.
And YOU MADE IT TO THIS VERY MOMENT…HERE AND NOW reminds us where life actually takes place.
Not inside the next notification.
HERE.
NOW.
FINAL SAY
I forgot my phone.
Then made the unusual decision…
to keep forgetting it for another two hours.
And what happened?
Nothing.
Which turned out to be SOMETHING.
I rediscovered what it feels like to be:
unreachable,
uninterrupted,
and fully where I was.
The phone remained useful.
My business survived.
The world continued.
And I got a little piece of my attention back.
So perhaps try it sometime.
Not recklessly.
Not when somebody genuinely needs access to you.
But intentionally.
Leave the phone behind.
Or turn it off.
Take a walk.
Eat lunch.
Sit somewhere.
Look around.
See what happens when nothing can reach you for a little while.
You might discover something interesting.
YOURSELF.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you