A few years ago I was talking to a guy in his 80’s who was doing everything that he could do to stay on top of his game and be a part of what was happening in the world. He was doing well in life, better than most in their 40’s or 50’s but he was slipping away from emerging technologies. He knew very little about computers and the new changes in the Internet, Skype and smart-phones.
His vision was getting bad so it made it so much harder for him to learn how computers and phones worked but he tried to convince me that he knew all about them. He said he had worked with computers when he was employed for a large corporation twenty years previous and that he was thinking about getting the latest and greatest computer to work on. It was braggadocio and he was also attempting to convince me that he was able to do what was relevant today. Essentially, that he was still relevant. At that time, I sort of didn’t bite into his attempt of manipulating me into believing his words. My body language and words probably betrayed my feelings. My feelings of—hey, give me a break, you’re out of that loop and quit trying to pretend that you were in it or will be—let it go, man!
I should be and I am, ashamed of myself for how I reacted to him that day. I usually have a lot of empathy with people but that day I was an ass. In retrospect the man was oh so right in how he felt about life and I wish I would have reacted differently towards him.
Today, I talked to a married couple in their 50’s who I grew up around as a kid. I was taken aback when they told me that they rarely use a computer. That when theirs broke they never fixed it because they feel computers are more of a bad thing than a good thing. Further, that social media sites are only sinister and they prefer to live how they used to years before computers were so prevalent.
I didn’t show any negative body language and I didn’t say anything negative about their beliefs even though I so much so disagreed with them. Our chat was great and there was no need for me to chime in and try and make them aware of the world according to Steve. No, we are all entitled to our views. However, personally, I feel that life is so rich with so many new and wonderful technologies that we should dive right in and be a part of it all.
I feel, not intellectually conclude mind you, but feel down from my core that life is something like a great, big, beautiful sandwich! Ha, yes, a sandwich! Full of delicious types of foods and fixings all mixed together surrounded by a wonderful bread that we should bite into with gusto. And there’s more than one type of sandwich out there as well. Every day new combinations, sauces and flavors are being put together. We should partake in the bounty of those new sandwiches and the bounty of this life! Bite into every ounce of life’s bounty, new and old. Partake in all its new combinations, fixings and greatness. Bite into and experience life to its fullest. Sure, some new is bad but so is some old. To not live life and experience everything that is TODAY, is akin to fading, withering away and dying. I say, don’t fade and don’t wither away either. I say take a hold of everything life has to offer now and make the utmost out of it. Smile and enjoy every new morsel! Bon Appetit!
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