On the evening of July 11, 2010 at approximately 7:45 p.m., my personal thoughts were as follows: “Oh s#@%!.” “Why did this happen?” “If only I had been more careful!” “How could I do this?” “I’m so sorry!”Sounds pretty bad, right?

Well, I didn’t hit anyone with my car. I didn’t accidentally drop a baby on its head. I didn’t cause anyone physical harm as a result of my actions.

What did I do? I accidentally dropped my husband’s new iPhone 4G—and it broke! As it went crashing to the ground, I thought to myself, “Oh my God, he’s going to be devastated! He MUST love me enough to not hate me for this!”

I didn’t have these thoughts because my husband is an unreasonable or a cold human being—he is quite the opposite—and he wasn’t mad at me. He was mad that his new, expensive phone was now broken, and I was mad at myself for my overreaction to his disappointment. However I was so racked with guilt that I immediately started thinking of ways to save some extra money to buy him a new phone.

This phone has become his best friend (after his wife, of course); his companion to occupy his free time (he’s constantly laughing out loud at it); his lifeline to all things social. He’s never without it. NEVER. He even carries it in his bathing suit pocket as a means to control the outdoor sound system. I have seen him abruptly stop on the diving board before jumping into the pool just to make sure it’s not still there. Not only is this over-the-top and irritating at times, could it be unhealthy?

This is not a dig at my husband. He’s certainly not alone (and the rest of you know who you are)! But the physical, psychological and emotional dependency that we have on this inanimate object amazes me. This… THING… that has taken over our lives caused me so much worry and despair that I had to stop and take a moment. And in that moment, I thought, “Get a grip!”  This is not the end of the world!

I nervously sit and write this as I wait for my husband to come home from the Apple store, hoping that his phone can and will be repaired and life can go back to normal. I even changed my Facebook status to “Fingers crossed.”

He’s home! And I’m happy to report that thanks to the very kind and compassionate “Genius” at the Apple store, my husband now has a brand new iPhone 4, and all is right in our world.

Time for a reality check, people—and I include myself in this plea! It’s time to put things in perspective. These are phones! Yes, they are used for a lot more than speaking to others. But, it’s NOT a necessity in which our lives will be ruined or that we’d die without—though we’ve managed to convince ourselves otherwise.

Let’s remember what’s important… and what was important before smartphones. Join me in this reality, won’t you?