By JACK GODBEY

There’s no doubt that this world is stressful. There are stressors everywhere we turn. 

If you’re anything like me, most of that stress is self-induced because I hold myself to a higher standard than anyone around me would ever do.

I found myself recently in the middle of a large shopping mall. I’m not much of a shopper so I just sat on the bench and watched people go by. I noticed that the majority of people were walking along like zombies with their faces glued to their phones and had little clue where they were or what was going on around them.

I admit that the technology that exists today is amazing. We can do many things on our phones that once seemed impossible. 

It seems that I utilize the flashlight, the camera and the calculator on my phone the most. The funny thing is that I have actual flashlights in my house. Yet, I rarely use them. I have expensive digital cameras but they sit in the closet unused. I have professional accounting calculators in my office but they are never turned on. 

It seems that the first thing I do when I need any of those things is to reach in my pocket and pull out my phone. Ironically, the one thing that I rarely use my phone for is to actually talk on the telephone.

There’s no doubt that having a smart phone is handy. However, I always believed that I could take them or leave them. That all changed recently when I wanted to take a picture and realized that I didn’t have my phone. 

I started to check my pockets and it looked like some sort of weird dance with my hands going up and down my body. I forgot about what I wanted to take a picture of and started to search my house. I assure you that the FBI couldn’t have done a more thorough search. 

Couch cushions went flying and I searched high and low even under the beds. I didn’t find my phone but I learned that I might want to vacuum more often. I saw things under that bed that I can never forget.

I then began to interrogate the dog. I was sure he knew more than he was letting on. After trying to bribe him, he lost interest and I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes as he walked away.

I decided to bring myself back to reality by taking a drive in the country. My phone can do many things but one thing it cannot do is help me to smell the roses. 

Although the phone can show me pictures of beautiful places, it cannot produce the smell of rain falling on the trees or of the whistling of the wind through the mountains.

I drove along that old country road and realized that so many people go through life upset about different things and never realize how beautiful the sky looks. They never notice the birds as they sing their songs in the trees. 

They just go through life with a frown on their face. People don’t realize that if our creator can produce such beautiful things in nature then our measly problems can surely be taken care of as well.

All of a sudden, I felt a vibration against my leg and I saw my phone sticking out from between the truck seats. 

I smiled and returned my focus to the beautiful song the birds were singing. If you call me and I don’t answer, don’t take it personally. I will be busy talking to the birds.