In the irony that is life time seems to speed up just as you learn to be patient and enjoy it. At least that is what I am experiencing. When I was younger and even into my later years I was always in a hurry. I needed to grow up, move out, get a job, get married, have children, have a career and on and on. Always in a hurry. Now I'm retired and in no hurry. Why is that ? The reason, I believe is a simple one, retirement ends when ? Yup, not in a hurry to get there. It is there that the irony exists. Most troubling to me now is, we are encouraging the children to hurry up too ! We are so busy structuring their lives and activities that they have no time to just entertain themselves. Shoot, most of them are bored if they have to do that. I guess that is why we invented video games, keep them occupied. Some are even claiming how good a thing this is. We can do high school in three years now and college too. Hurry up and get an education so you can hurry up and work. But will retirement come early ? I don't think so. Social security, if it still exists in the future, certainly isn't going to allow that. The age has already been increased. Is the accumulation of sufficient funds to retire early going to be a reality ? I doubt that. So, what's the hurry ? There really are only two certainties in life, death and taxes.
So where is the happy medium ? I believe there is a medium, a balance in all things. Certainly we should prepare our children for the world and life in general. Should we push them forward like cattle through a chute ? Herd'em up and send them to school. It begins with pre-school these days. These kids don't even have the chance to develop social skills at home. I'm not certain that is a good idea. I'm thinking that is why we are seeing some of the behaviors we are seeing. The kids are " smarter " but do lack social skills. At least that is what I think. Instead of allowing them to become comfortable with themselves we are pushing them out into the world. It is all about the competition these days. We try to compensate for that by giving everyone the " star " or the participation trophy. Then later in life they don't get those and begin to complain. It isn't fair ! We even have to create " safe spaces " so they don't get there feelings hurt. Is that preparing them for life ? I don't think so. This attitude of every one should receive the same regardless of effort put forth is just wrong. Entitled ? Seems like that to me.
But back to the topic I began with : time. I'm sure that it has been said of every generation and will continue but we need to slow down. If we tone down the competitive nature of our lives and allow more time to develop our social skills everyone would be better off. We may be smarter and more technologically advanced, but we are sacrificing our humanity in doing so. The abandonment of moral and ethical values to achieve " success " is destroying us. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to make advances. I'm not saying we should just sit around doing nothing. I am saying we should ease up just a bit. Take time to smell the roses as the saying goes. We need to spend more time being people and less being productive. In the end, when the production run is over, what will be left ? Time, and time goes all too quickly. Time is one commodity we can not control. When it runs out, it is out. Can you waste time ? Can you spend time ? I'm not sure of the answers but I do know you can enjoy time. And that happens one moment at a time, subject to change. Patience takes a lifetime to develop and then time runs out. All we can do is wait for it. Ironic isn't it ?
So where is the happy medium ? I believe there is a medium, a balance in all things. Certainly we should prepare our children for the world and life in general. Should we push them forward like cattle through a chute ? Herd'em up and send them to school. It begins with pre-school these days. These kids don't even have the chance to develop social skills at home. I'm not certain that is a good idea. I'm thinking that is why we are seeing some of the behaviors we are seeing. The kids are " smarter " but do lack social skills. At least that is what I think. Instead of allowing them to become comfortable with themselves we are pushing them out into the world. It is all about the competition these days. We try to compensate for that by giving everyone the " star " or the participation trophy. Then later in life they don't get those and begin to complain. It isn't fair ! We even have to create " safe spaces " so they don't get there feelings hurt. Is that preparing them for life ? I don't think so. This attitude of every one should receive the same regardless of effort put forth is just wrong. Entitled ? Seems like that to me.
But back to the topic I began with : time. I'm sure that it has been said of every generation and will continue but we need to slow down. If we tone down the competitive nature of our lives and allow more time to develop our social skills everyone would be better off. We may be smarter and more technologically advanced, but we are sacrificing our humanity in doing so. The abandonment of moral and ethical values to achieve " success " is destroying us. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to make advances. I'm not saying we should just sit around doing nothing. I am saying we should ease up just a bit. Take time to smell the roses as the saying goes. We need to spend more time being people and less being productive. In the end, when the production run is over, what will be left ? Time, and time goes all too quickly. Time is one commodity we can not control. When it runs out, it is out. Can you waste time ? Can you spend time ? I'm not sure of the answers but I do know you can enjoy time. And that happens one moment at a time, subject to change. Patience takes a lifetime to develop and then time runs out. All we can do is wait for it. Ironic isn't it ?
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