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Today’s times are strange. We live in comfort. We have excellent medical care that our grandmothers and grandfathers could only have dreamed of. Our children have access to quality education and all kinds of technologies make our lives easier. One would think that we lack nothing and shouldn’t complain about anything. But it seems to me that the opposite is true. People around me are dissatisfied, irritated, and all the achievements of the new age are an absolute given for many. But nothing lasts forever. Today’s encounter with an old gentleman opened my eyes.
Reality versus the online environment
Remember what your typical day looked like 10 – 15 years ago? How many photos do you have from that time from your vacation? I bet you used your mobile exclusively for calls and sending SMS. Touchscreens were still in their infancy. A few of us had just discovered Facebook, but we checked it only from a computer and few suffered from a constant urge to add new and new photos or to spew one opinion after another. Small children didn’t know what a social network was. It’s not that long ago, is it? A few years were enough and the technology that was supposed to make our lives easier is very subtly stealing it from us and we voluntarily and gladly let ourselves be robbed.
Time on the network runs like crazy. Five minutes become an hour and you don’t even notice
We all complain about lack of time. I didn’t manage to exercise, cook, prepare a project for work, play with the children, visit grandparents. Insert anything you don’t manage and then calculate how much time you spend online each day. Were you in such extreme time pressure 10 years ago?
Nothing lasts forever. Use the time with your loved ones while you can
I also spent more time online than necessary. But one ride on a scheduled bus made me rethink my life so far. I was going to work and I noticed an old man sitting silently holding a huge bouquet of roses in his hand. The gentleman looked devastated and I couldn’t help it and asked him if he was okay. The grandfather looked at me and with tears in his eyes began to explain that he was going to the cemetery to put flowers on his wife’s grave, who had died two months ago. The man told me that he no longer has a reason for joy. They didn’t have children of their own, he was left completely alone. The pain of this old man struck me deeply. The time we can devote to our loved ones is irreplaceable. Give it to your parents, grandparents and close friends.
