If you look around yourself there is something which all of us notice, the screens rule the world. A discovery or invention, whatever you call it has got mankind totally dependent on it. Was not life livable before the screens came? Will it not be livable if they are not there? But this is something that can never happen as what we have done to ourselves is something we cannot get out of. Life was easier, simpler, and even more comfortable before but gradually we got hooked on something that made living, but not life, comfortable.

We all live our lives in our own way and we have our own choices, decisions, and terms on which we live. But life has its own definition for everyone. Living is a different scenario. Everyone is blessed to have a life but everyone does not know how to live. There are so many things around us that influence our life and change the way we live. A world that has gone online since the pandemic has made screens a very important part of everyone around us. Our lives have gotten addicted to this and now our living has also become online. As children, we lived our lives on the terms, conditions, and methods of the generation above. We had no apps where we had to agree to the terms and conditions to start it. How many of us go through the terms and conditions of anything that we want to do on screen? Earlier it was just the same but our apps were 'real people', they did set terms, and rules and we either followed them willingly or they just had to be followed. Some would get rebellious if it seemed difficult to follow, yet you could never delete it from your life. No matter what you did the backup of the 'real people', the support and memory which would be full all the time, would not slow down you or your life but you would keep going. You knew even if you exit they are always with you.

Today we spend most of our time being with the digital world. We spend time scrolling down our screens. The screens where you see strangers who can make you laugh, cry or even share their journey or give life lessons. There is a like and a share and this goes on and we live this way. I would say we are living a lonely life, even in a crowd we are with ourselves and our screens. It is so easy to agree with so many things on screen which were shared with us by people around us. We look for answers to our physical and mental problems online. Had this not been taught when we were small? The whole idea of being physically active, adjusting to the environment,  and sharing your feelings with someone who could give you a shoulder to cry on or a pat on the back for doing good, was there before the screens came in. Believe me, life was healthier and manageable then and living was comfortable.

The screens are good in the sense we can be available when needed, connect when important, and share every moment with everyone instantly, no matter how far we are. It does save time and energy and is a great discovery. There is nothing against being online or going digital. When the world shut down the screens were a lifesaver. In fact thanks to the screens we were able to live our life most comfortably. Without stepping out we did reach out and did get help. It kept us going when our mind was totally disturbed by everything around us. The difficult part was for the children who had to cope with so much and yet they adjusted to what was called ' the new normal', the screens kept education going on. We did keep in touch through it but as always everything has a positive outcome as well as a negative outcome. The years of pandemic increased the demand of being online and this created an addiction.

Addiction of any kind is not appreciated and so is that of the screens. Though it helped us in staying connected, it has made us a stranger in our own homes. We now live life being with ourselves rather than being with everyone around us. We are glued to the screen and the only break that it gets is when we sleep. The addiction has even disturbed the pattern of sleep. We forget that the body needs to rest both physically and mentally. As we have all heard the saying " too much of anything is bad", that is what exactly happens with this addiction. We are living our lives which are centering around this addiction. Life changes with any kind of habit and when you cannot change a habit, it turns into an addiction which makes living so different. Our life is all about comfort and if this is through screens, it is welcomed. We have learned to be present online which helps us to leave if not interested within seconds which would take a bit longer had it been more physical. We have made emotions too digital as we have no time to be present to emote them. We have learned to share our happy moments or sad ones just with a click of a button. We have learned to make conversations shorter and faster and then complain that there is no one to vent out what's inside. Life is running faster but the network should be great in order to do so. Living is so easy today that we get tired of our lives that we long to take a break. It takes time to understand each other as we live as two people under one roof, not knowing what the other goes through. Living is more a formality, presence is valuable, emotions are emoticons, conversation is to the point, rest is physical, and the mind is complicated and not at rest. We are in a race to catch up with everything around us that we have forgotten to catch up with family and friends. When living becomes digital, life takes a step back because life has no replay, delete, or backup. You cannot scroll back what you did as every moment of your life just passed by in seconds and you are living with this addiction till the day life presses the stop button, which is just any click away.

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