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Growing up, I did not know better. We had few of the "instant" gratification options of today. No smart phones, no PCs, no cell phones (just the black dial phone in the middle of the house), and very little of what folks today believe are the basics of life. Having said that, our parents thought we were the advantaged ones. Again, a common theme of mine....it's all relative.
But I do believe that with these technology innovations, and social media itself, folks these days almost depend on instant responses, to pretty much everything. Heck, we even have access to binge watch shows....whereas when I grew up, it was clearly once a week, but on very few channels. I think we had a handful at most on our black and white tvs, but truth is, radio was all most people had not long before.
There are plenty of benefits to all this innovation, but there are downsides. I believe young people are, to a fairly high degree, glued to wherever the social media takes them....and in some cases, to an addiction level. And now you hear about these new social concerns, like FOMO - fear of missing out, whereby folks are worried that they are missing out, just because they see something on facebook or Instagram or whatever that might suggest they have been left out of some type of social engagement. Imagine this sad situation, a teen is on a wonderful winter vacation in a tropical place, but is watching closely as her friends have a little fun back home. That is sad.
So I ask...do any of you test your discipline? I remember when my friend and I worked for a market garden (when we were in our mid teens), and we would sometimes test our ability to withstand the crazy heat in the green house. Of course we could escape any time we wanted, but it was interesting to see how long we could last without cooler air and something to drink. I know, goofy example, but it was a test. As were all those times we would practice and play sports in very poor conditions.....extreme heat and humidity, extreme cold and wind. Not sure it was our choice all the time, but we could quit of course.
Just for fun, sometimes when I BBQ in very cold canuck weather, I will go outside with just a long sleeve shirt (ha ha, and pants and shoes) for a few minutes at a time, to check things on the grill, and see if I can handle with little pain. It's a small test of discipline, in that I could easily just wear a parka. But it feels kind of good to tough it up as they say. Surprisingly, we humans are pretty tough. Maybe we don't allow ourselves the chance to show that off.
There are so many tests we could do on ourselves. Not checking our social media for long durations. Not eating some food we crave. Not bingeing on shows we like. You can think of a hundred of such exercises I suppose. Maybe more.
In the long run, I think we should try to manage our instantaneous urges. The more you do of it, the more you can handle. I am not advocating going outside at -40 with just a long sleeve shirt and jeans for more than a few minutes. But it is good to know that we are much more capable of handling "the wait", in all aspects of life, than we give ourselves credit for.:thumb:
But I do believe that with these technology innovations, and social media itself, folks these days almost depend on instant responses, to pretty much everything. Heck, we even have access to binge watch shows....whereas when I grew up, it was clearly once a week, but on very few channels. I think we had a handful at most on our black and white tvs, but truth is, radio was all most people had not long before.
There are plenty of benefits to all this innovation, but there are downsides. I believe young people are, to a fairly high degree, glued to wherever the social media takes them....and in some cases, to an addiction level. And now you hear about these new social concerns, like FOMO - fear of missing out, whereby folks are worried that they are missing out, just because they see something on facebook or Instagram or whatever that might suggest they have been left out of some type of social engagement. Imagine this sad situation, a teen is on a wonderful winter vacation in a tropical place, but is watching closely as her friends have a little fun back home. That is sad.
So I ask...do any of you test your discipline? I remember when my friend and I worked for a market garden (when we were in our mid teens), and we would sometimes test our ability to withstand the crazy heat in the green house. Of course we could escape any time we wanted, but it was interesting to see how long we could last without cooler air and something to drink. I know, goofy example, but it was a test. As were all those times we would practice and play sports in very poor conditions.....extreme heat and humidity, extreme cold and wind. Not sure it was our choice all the time, but we could quit of course.
Just for fun, sometimes when I BBQ in very cold canuck weather, I will go outside with just a long sleeve shirt (ha ha, and pants and shoes) for a few minutes at a time, to check things on the grill, and see if I can handle with little pain. It's a small test of discipline, in that I could easily just wear a parka. But it feels kind of good to tough it up as they say. Surprisingly, we humans are pretty tough. Maybe we don't allow ourselves the chance to show that off.
There are so many tests we could do on ourselves. Not checking our social media for long durations. Not eating some food we crave. Not bingeing on shows we like. You can think of a hundred of such exercises I suppose. Maybe more.
In the long run, I think we should try to manage our instantaneous urges. The more you do of it, the more you can handle. I am not advocating going outside at -40 with just a long sleeve shirt and jeans for more than a few minutes. But it is good to know that we are much more capable of handling "the wait", in all aspects of life, than we give ourselves credit for.:thumb:
Those forest dwelling hermits may just have the last laugh yet!
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