There I was reading by candle light, no electricity running, reading an Abraham Lincoln book, wondering how he did it, along with experiencing how much my eye sight was starting to blur.
It was right smack dab in the middle of Earth Hour, an hour period where everyone around the world was encouraged to turn off all their lights and electronics all at the same time, that I started thinking about how good we’ve got it today.
I can’t believe I am going to write this, because it is going to sound like something my grandfather would have said. “In my short life a lot has changed.”
“Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth, but of the world we were young in.” Peter Medawar
Simple things we take for granted, like phones, are totally different. When I was a kid we had dial phones. You know, the ones you would stick a finger in a hole to dial each number. Your fingers would get sore if you had to make too many calls. Sparks might even fly from the phone if you dialed too hard.
Today we have phones that can track us, can instantly send message anywhere in the world, and on top of that, we can use our phone to watch our favorite football game. Pretty good if you ask me.
Maybe we just take technology for granted too much these days. We don’t realize how good we’ve really got it.
“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.” Paul Valery
Take for instance the miracle of modern flight. We complain about having to wait 20 minutes to get on a flight, spending time on the runway waiting for clearance to take-off, and the discomfort of having to sit in a chair for a few hours to get from New York to Los Angeles.
Perhaps we have forgotten that it would take a full year only a hundred years ago to travel from New York to Los Angeles, and along the way many of the people you would be traveling with would die, babies would be born, and danger was around every turn.
Today everything is pretty much amazing if you really think about it.
The idea of a motor boat is amazing. I can walk down to my boat dock, uncover the boat, turn the key, and all of the sudden I am driving on water. I can go backwards, forwards, and spin around if I choose. I can even take people along with me and spend the night on my boat, go to the bathroom, take a shower, and cook a meal. Amazing!
The ability to take hot showers, cook a meal in a minute, turn on a light with a flip of switch, and the power to watch television . . . it’s all pretty amazing.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Thornton Wilder
I take all of these things for granted when I don’t think about how good we have it. We may even believe that the world owes us these things, because so many of us have easy access to these quality of life services.
Sitting and reading by candle light, with no electronics running, can awaken you to the amazement of how good we have it today too.
Give it a try. Turn off your lights and electronics for an hour. See how good you have it.
“The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots.” Erich Fromm
Let me know what you think.
Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.