“Life is too short to worry about what people, who exist in a free app in your phone, think of you.” – Debra Lynne

Life Beyond the Screen: Finding Freedom from Digital Approval

The people who exist in free apps on your phone aren’t real parts of your life. They’re just digital echoes behind glass—strangers passing judgment on carefully curated moments they see for a few seconds. Yet somehow, their thumbs up or down can make or break our day. Why do we give this power away? Each minute spent worrying about these distant opinions is a minute stolen from your actual life—from the people who know your laughter, who’ve seen you cry, who choose to love you not for your highlights but for your whole story.

Think about it: the most meaningful connections in your life didn’t happen through likes or comments. They happened through shared experiences, through vulnerable conversations, through being fully present. Your grandparents didn’t build lifelong friendships by obsessing over what strangers thought of them. The wisdom of generations tells us that peace comes from living authentically, not from chasing validation from people who know only fragments of who you are.

The truth is, when you’re taking your last breaths someday, you won’t be thinking about that comment section or how many followers you had. You’ll be thinking about the sunsets you watched, the hands you held, the dreams you chased, and the love you gave freely. The digital world tricks us into believing attention equals worth. But worth isn’t measured in views—it’s measured in how fully you lived, how kindly you loved, and how courageously you faced each day as your true self.

Here’s a simple practice: Next time you feel that pang of anxiety about what internet strangers think, take a deep breath and name five people whose opinions actually matter to you. Not fifty, not five hundred—just five. These are your people. These are the voices worth listening to. And even they don’t get the final say in who you are. That honor belongs only to you. Your worth was established long before smartphones existed, and it will remain unchanged no matter what happens online.

Freedom begins when you realize that other people’s opinions are just that—opinions. They’re not facts about who you are. The people scrolling through apps are dealing with their own insecurities, their own struggles, their own limited perspectives. Their judgment says more about them than it could ever say about you. So live boldly. Post what brings you joy. Say what feels true. Or maybe just put the phone down altogether and feel the sunshine on your face. The real world—with all its messy, beautiful, unfiltered glory—is waiting for you to fully join it. And I promise, it’s so much better than any app could ever be.