Enjoy your Real life

Last night I had a dinner plan with my friend in our favorite restaurant; as usual I reached the restaurant before him and while waiting for him I observed something that compelled me to write this article. On the table next to mine was sitting a family of four, husband, wife and their two little daughters; you must be thinking that what a beautiful time this beautiful family must be having with each other but no it was not the case, in fact all four of them were busy with their mobiles and tabs (yes even the little daughters!!). I realized that this has become a common scenario these days and a talkative ‘me’ was thinking that why somebody would need mobile, tabs or any other gadgets to pass their time if they have real persons with them? Seriously I hate looking into my mobile whenever I am with my family and friends. I don’t understand why people get so busy in their virtual lives when they can enjoy their real lives. Well after some time my friend came and we enjoyed our dinner without even looking at our mobiles and then we headed to our favorite ice cream parlor and there also I saw the same scenario, people engrossed in their virtual lives and paying no attention to the real people around them. That very moment I thanked God for giving me the sense of enjoying my precious moments with the real people around me or rather I would say that when you truly enjoy the present moment (no matter how big or small it is) with the people you are with then that moment automatically becomes precious.

What is more alarming is that this mobile and gadget addiction is not only restricted to restaurants and other social gatherings but it has entered into the toilets as well. Yes, I know it sounds weird but it is true. Many people need their mobiles even to answer their nature’s call making me wonder that do nature gives them a call on their mobiles or does using mobiles in the toilets improve their metabolism? And if it is so then I again have to thank God for not letting my digestive system to depend upon these fancy gadgets. Uff! by now many of the readers must have started criticizing me but hey wait, I understand that there may be few people who genuinely have some work and so they have to use their mobiles and gadgets at the time when they should not be using it but I think that the number of such ‘genuine people with genuine work’ is very less and most of the people are just addicted to their virtual lives leaving behind their real lives.

Oh, there is one more element in this mobile, gadget and virtual life addiction and it is none other than our very own ‘television’. There are some people who always need their TV to be switched on all the time even if they are with a bunch of some other people. I remember once going to somebody’s place for dinner, the hosts were such TV addicts that instead of talking to us they were totally engrossed in watching their favorite TV show and I felt that whether I have been invited for a dinner or for watching some illogical TV show? I have seen many people who just cannot have their food without watching TV which again makes me wonder that does watching TV while having food add some extra taste to the food!! Maybe it is so but in my case it is totally opposite. Because of the very different routines of me and my husband, most of the times I have to take my meals alone but even then I don’t need to watch TV or use any other gadget to eat my food. All I need is some simple food, some hunger, a proper place to sit, a healthy body and my five senses to enjoy my food. And it is not only about enjoyment, when you enjoy you food by focusing on it; your metabolism also improves leading to a healthy life.

Well I would call all these above addictions of mobiles, gadgets and TV as ‘virtual life addiction’ where we lose control of our very present and real moments and sadly a huge number of people are suffering from this addiction, especially the youngsters, without even realizing it. And this addiction is not only affecting their relationships but also their mental and physical health. I think the only way to come out of this addiction is to understand that all the gadgets have been made to help us and not to control us; we have to take the control f our lives into our hands and should enjoy every moment with the real people around us to get the real happiness of our lives. So start enjoying your real lives NOW!!!