Fete Lifestyle Magazine July 2016 - Tech Issue | Page 23

We are more connected to the world than ever before in history.

Information is at our fingertips, making it easy to stay connected and

up to date on current events. In a matter of a few clicks and scrolls we

know what is happening around the world within seconds of an event.

It can be very easy to get caught up in what is going on in the world, so

it is also very important to find balance between being connected to the

global world and connected to the experiences in your own personal world.

It is challenging to be present without getting distracted by your smart

device and the power of its technology - but it is important to find the

balance.

It may seem boring to spend time with one person when you can share your

life experiences with millions of people online. We live in a generous

world where people want to share their lives with others. They put

themselves out there for the world to see and to entertain others. There

is something intriguing to be a "fly on the wall" in another person’s life,

but how much honesty are we really seeing? How well do you really know

these people who "bare all" on social media?

There is a big difference between how many Facebook friends you have and

how many people you can call up or spend time with. Facebook, Instagram

and Twitter make it easy to stay connected to people and up to date on

everything going on in their lives, but it should never replace

physically being present and enjoying people face to face. Don't get me

wrong, I love reading blogs of inspirational people such as Richard

Branson, but I'm not able to call him up to talk about it.

The world of technology continues to grow exponentially every second of

each day. The more it changes and the more upgrades there are the more we rely on it, need it or want more of it. The one thing that will always

stay the same is the importance of sharing real life experiences with

friends and family. A life experience does not always have to be some

major event like a trip to some exotic island, although that would be great

too! It can be meeting for coffee, taking in a movie, or just walking

over to a neighbor's house to share some extra vegetables from your

garden. These life experiences are a constant reminder of how valuable it

is to have people who truly love you, whom you enjoy being around.

The answer to balancing technology is to use it to stay more connected,

but not to stay less connected to those who are immediately around you.

Give it a try - share an experience with someone - then share an

experience with someone else and tell them all about it.