In today’s culture, texting is a main form of communication. According to OneReach statistics, portion research found that “people worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone. That’s almost 23 billion messages per day, or almost 16 million messages per minute.” Forrester stated that over 6 billion of those text messages each day are in the U.S. The average adult spends a total of 23 hours a week texting according to USA Today and the average Millennial exchanges an average of 67 text messages per day according to Business Insider. CTIA found that in 2012, Americans sent 69,000 texts every second. If that doesn’t prove how much of an impact texting has in today’s society, then just take a look at your own life and those around you. Everywhere you go people are on their phones and more times than not they are communicating with someone in some form.

I remember in high school I spent a majority of my time texting with friends when I wasn’t with them. Even when I was with friends we were all texting someone who wasn’t present with us. There was never a reason to feel lonely because I was always talking to somebody. As I’ve been in college for three years now, I’ve noticed how the purpose of texting people has changed. Before it was to carry out a conversation throughout the day with someone. Now, it is solely the purpose of quick communication for making plans and exchanging information.

I came to this realization while coming home from school this weekend for a quick doctors appointment and to support my little brother’s football game. As my whole family went to bed, I found myself just sitting alone not knowing what to do and having nobody to talk to. I immediately felt lonely because I realized I didn’t have anyone to text and carry a meaningful conversation with. It wasn’t that I didn’t have any friends, I have many friends back at school, but usually I was present with them so there was no need to text any of them. I had to stop myself and say “No you’re not lonely, you don’t have anyone to text and that’s okay.” To my benefit, not staying up and texting meant I had plenty of sleep that night (woot woot go college student)! But I also came to a peaceful conclusion not texting someone and being lonely are not synonyms.

If you’re feeling lonely because you don’t have someone to text throughout the day, turn that around and use that time to be more productive and accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to! I feel so free and productive not being tied to my phone all day long. Texting doesn’t have to be your main form of communication, go make some friends and spend genuine time with them. It's way better, I promise. The feelings of loneliness are so temporary; you’ll be over it as soon as you change your mindset. But the feelings of knowing you have great friends that you get to spend time with are far greater.