My generation is falling farther and farther into the technology age. And it’s killing us. I’m not saying that there’s going to be a robot revolution or anything, but come on! The more technology we have at our disposal, the less time we spend doing anything else. Every bright and sunny day that I spend inside, my parents tell me the same thing: when they were kids, they’d be running outside, playing with friends. Getting grass stains and mud covering their clothes. And living.

Off the top of my head, this is the technology that I use daily: my laptop, my cell phone, my Ipod, my kindle, and my TV. I’m sure there is plenty more of mind numbing technology that crosses my path daily, but those are the ones that I use the most. I know I’m privileged to have such items, but I abuse them.

Let me explain. Most of the things I have, I don’t use for anything that matters, although some I do. My cell phone, I just text my friends. That doesn’t improve my life or anyone else’s. All it does is let me talk to my friends when I’m too lazy to get off my butt to go find them and hang out with them. It doesn’t help me any. My Ipod, okay, that helps me a little, but nothing that I am proud of. It helps me write to listen to music. But more times then not, I’m cooped up in my room, listening to music, wasting my time. And of course, my TV is just rotting my brain, just like my parents always said it would.

Now as for my laptop and kindle, that is something that I can say does help me in life, but nothing that would make them something that I can’t live without. I’m a writer, I write for fun, and to try to make an impact on others lives. I’m entering so many articles into Teen Ink because I feel like if I can get someone to read one of my articles and change their ways for the better, then I did my job. I read, nearly everyday, on my kindle. That helps keep my brain sharp, but it doesn’t mean that I need to spend so much time with technology.

What matters in my life, is today. You never know how much time you have on this earth. When we’re born, we don’t have an expiration date stamped on the bottom of our feet. There are no guarantees in life, so why spend our precious time on technology. If you love technology so much to spend every waking minute attached to it, then go out and create a new technology to help the world for the better. Do something to help the world.

As of today, I am trying, with my friends, to start a non-profit foundation. Now that is what matters in life. To make your impact now, not later. You need to light a fire under your butt and get out there to help people who need it, to make yourself known, and to set yourself apart from the pack. Even if it’s something as small as writing an article for Teen Ink that is against drugs or racism or anything that you feel people need to know, that’s an impact.

People always say that teens and kids can’t do anything. Obviously they’re wrong. Kids have been making the world a better place for years and years, just as long as adults have been. Here’s proof for you. Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Alex was a little girl who felt that she could make a difference for kids like her suffering in a hospital. Now look at her now. She might have lost her battle, but her name is known across the country. She made her impact on the world. I’m slowly carving out mine. How far are you?