The danger of taking things for granted
Last week I almost killed my iPhone twice! After facing the fear of nearly losing my phone, I noticed how my behaviour and attitude towards it changed, but only for so long. When I analysed the reason why my actions and mindset changed and how come the change was only temporary, I realised that the situation with my phone was very much applicable to other situations in life. So I thought I would share some of my main takeaways from my experience.
The first close to death experience my phone had was last Thursday evening. I was navigating my way through London on Google Maps as I was zigzagging between cars on my bike. Trying to get to a bike stand as close to London Bridge as possible, where I was meeting a friend for dinner. All of a sudden, I dropped my phone on the street. When I picked it up I saw that its back was cracked into a million pieces.
The second time I nearly killed my phone was last Saturday. I changed my bedsheets and decided to try to fix my dishwasher that stopped working a few days ago. As I did so I needed a flashlight and went to get my iPhone. It was nowhere to be found. I panicked. For a second I thought I placed it in the washing machine with the bedsheets, as the last time I could remember using the phone was while I was in bed. So I rushed to paus the washing programme and quickly pulled out the wet sheets. Now the floor was covered in water and detergent but the phone was not there.
THANK GOD!
I tried to track it on Find-my-iPhone and played the lost-sound. I could observe that it was in the apartment, however I could not hear it. I asked my partner to call, he did but I was unable to hear the vibration no matter how many times he rang. It had completely vanished. I didn’t think more about it and went on with trying to fix my broken dishwasher. 30 min later I was frustrated and gave up..
The washing machine just finished so I started hanging the bedsheets. To my surprise and to my dismay the iPhone jumped out from the washing machine! It had been stuck in the fitted bedsheet and been washed on 60 degrees during 1h long cycle! My heart was in my mouth as I picked up the phone, only to see that it was still alive!
IT WAS A MIRACLE!
My iPhone XR survived 1h in the washing machine! I quickly called my partner to tell him about the fantastic news. He advised me to put it on the radiator and leave it there for the day to dry up any moisture and to reduce the damage. So I did, at least for a little bit until my phone started vibrating. A text, a call, checking social media. It was the weekend after all and it had been a busy week. I’m sure it wasn’t too bad if I used it a little bit while it was drying.
Later that evening I took a bath and wanted to listen to some relaxing music. Despite feeling guilty knowing it might not be the best conditions to bring the phone back into a moist environment, I did do exactly that. While in the bath I got an epiphany. My incident with my iPhone was so applicable to life.
Even though I recognise that I would struggle to be without my phone (as I use it multiple times every waken hour), it was a mystery to me that I treated something so dearly so poorly. The truth is, I absolutely took it for granted. I knew that I could count on it to follow all my commands and wishes without any complains. My first thought when I dropped it and the back cracked was: F**k, now I will have to fix it - what a hassle, stupid phone instead of stupid me who had caused the damage.
When I nearly killed it for the second time by washing it for 1h, I felt very guilty. I promised the phone I would take better care of it from now on. I would fix the broken back without complaining. I said I would give it some rest and take good care of it, if it just kept working.
But just a few minutes after putting the phone on the radiator to dry, I had it back in my hand typing away. One quick peak could not do much damage, right? I mean, I did put it back on the radiator right afterwards. I agree that bringing the phone into the wet bathroom might not have been the smartest idea but I really wanted the relaxing music, at least that’s how I justified my action to myself.
As I analysed my behaviour I realised that I primarily focused on quick wins for myself rather than what was best for the phone (and myself) in the long run. I was astonished how quickly I forgot my promises to treat it better, as soon as things went back to normal. You might say: it’s just a phone, it will not hold you accountable for the promises you make. Sure, in this story it’s just a phone but I would argue that we have the same tendency with people we love.
Despite that I had zero interest in spending £1000 on a new phone plus the time and energy it would take to set it up, I was not doing what I knew was best for the phone but rather what was most beneficial for me.
Sometimes we do something stupid towards a loved one and instead of taking responsibilities for our own actions, we think the other person is the one causing trouble when they get hurt, even though we were the one provoking the drama. Only when we do something so major that we risk losing them, we promise to change and to treat them better. And maybe we do actually change initially, but when we take someone for granted we quickly forget our promises and go back to a life focused on our own wins and benefits as soon as things are back to normal.
Learnings
Always take 100% responsibility for your own actions instead of blaming others of being the problem
Why wait till things are critical? Change now to become a better version of yourself
If you promise to change, keep your promises
Focus on the long term goals instead of the quick wins
Making a behaviour change last can be difficult, the trick is to start small
