Today's Ramble: A Lesson from an Aging Smartphone

I’ve been eligible for an upgrade for 9 months with my mobile phone account. Every few days I am stalked with emails dangling the carrot of the beautiful new gadget I could have in my hands if I just gave in and upgraded already. There are some days I can almost feel them in my grasp. I envision how the screen would look. My palm senses the weight of its body and my fingertips dream of the surface textures. What apps I would keep using and download onto my new friend and which ones would be left on the old phone to rot? Once, I even went as far as pulling up Amazon to decide which case I would order. Or, would I take the very risky route, given how clumsy my hands are, and go case-less because THIS new phone would be treated far better than my old one. I would maybe even order it a tiara…

The thing is…my phone works. Does it get snagged sometimes when I’m switching too quickly from screens or apps? Yes.

But. It has 4G. It has Bluetooth. It accesses the internet relatively quickly. The screen isn’t cracked nor is the body of it. No visual pixelation noise or anything taking away from viewing quality. Navigation works as well as Google Maps will allow it.

It’s just not new.

The fact that this bothers me is one I find rather disturbing. Therefore,I’m denying myself the upgrade BECAUSE I want to so badly for no real reason other than newness. And, I know it’s not just me who has this happen to them. It’s what drives our economy. It’s why so many phones are constantly coming on the market because we always have to have the next best thing and so many are thrown away amassing with all the other e-waste. Why? It’s such a sickening element of those of us lucky enough to live in the First World. Why do we think that we would cherish the new thing anymore than we cherish the thing we have now?

You can see where my rambling is going with this.

My lesson from my aging smartphone is this:

Don’t just believe in living simply so others may simply live.

LIVE simply so others may simply live.

Do I think I'm going to change the world by not upgrading until I actually "need" to? No. But, it makes my soul feel better. If I can learn to be this way about something as petty as my smartphone, maybe it will trickle into other areas that I feel are "lacking"...