Have you ever been in a situation where you said something, saw something, or did something and the reaction you received wasn’t what you expected? I’m sure its happened to the best of us, particularly when driving. 😉
The other week I divorced my iPhone. It was a decision that had been building for a while and took a couple of months to action. Change can take a while to action, particularly when it’s something as big as divorcing the iPhone.
It’s now been a couple of weeks since this smartphone divorce has taken place and boy has it got some unexpected reactions. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been telling people about this change. Sometimes it’s simply come about because people have seen the little Nokia 110 that I’ve begun carrying around. Other times I’ve used it to spark an interesting conversation and see how people react.
The reactions that I’ve received from everybody I’ve talked to has been surprising. It’s been surprising because everyone’s been overwhelming positive. In fact, I can’t remember a negative reaction. The response to the change I’ve made in divorcing my iPhone is usually, “That’s awesome, I should think about doing something like that.”
It seems to me, from the antidotal evidence that I’ve received in conversation and via comments on this blog, is that everyone recognises their smartphones are causing problems. There is either an over reliance or addiction to these devices which don’t make for healthy people or healthy relationships.
This wasn’t really the reaction I was expecting.
I was expecting that more people would laugh at what I’d undertaken, or joke about how I’ll only last a few days, or perhaps even convince me turn back to the iPhone. Instead, everyone’s loved the move and can completely understand why I’m doing this. It’s not because I can’t cope with the iPhone. I coped with it for 4 years. It’s more to do with making a positive lifestyle change that enables me to be more productive and engaged with my friends and family.
When people understand the motivations behind this change it’s no wonder I’m getting positive reactions to this move.
This thought leads me to ask, what reaction do you have to people giving up things you value or do?
Minimal Mess 