Saturday 31 August 2013

DONT BE CAUGHT UP IN THE AGE OF CONVENIENCE

Convenience. Sounds good when it goes in our favour doesn't it? "For your convenience we will come and pick up your package for free" or "For your convenience we have provided a creche  for children while the parents dine at the table". It's always wise to do something for another's convenience especially in the world of business and services.

However, we are in the times where we expect too much convenience. You will find bits of this in the news. For instance, the story that came out a few months ago that some "grown" adults dislike the inconvenience of sharing a plane with children so much, they want to ban all children from boarding with them because of the 'noise'.

Even if you haven't seen it in the daily news, you have definitely seen it in every day life and will continue to see it. Like that person in the queue tutting  behind an elderly customer trying to pay the right money at the shop counter. Like that teenager getting angry just because their internet connection has shut down and cant have unimportant social network chats with their friends.


This is too much. As humans on earth we are born to adapt. We adapt to climates, people and environments. Of course, there are harder things to adapt to then others, that is where the necessity of convenience comes in. That's also were the phrase "necessity is the mother of all invention" gets it's real meaning.

"WE WOULD BE BARKING AT THE WRONG LILY FLOWER  LET ALONE UP A TREE"

Microwaves, fridges, power tools and even toilets have more necessities than what people at this age are moaning about.  This is not a "back in my day" rant on new technology or on the new way of thinking,  but this is to highlight our growing over reliance on non essential benefits  of  technology and our pleasures of selfishness. 

Most of us tend to think once we  had broke free from the patronising authoritarian type of living in the pre world war 2 days, we as a people would have a voice that is valued and would not cross the line of being too narcissistic,  domineering and selfish. Well, we were wrong. It seems we are going that way; our voices are talking way too much.  Western society is becoming more petty to the point where we would be barking at the wrong lily flower let alone up a tree.

This trend of attitude is what the older generation had warned us about. This warning probably was not done in the most subtle of ways, as most older generations speak with disgust on the new generations becoming too dependent on the comforts of life.  They would go on rants or arrogant bursts about "the good ol' days" which would put off the next in line of life from listening.

 So it's widely agreed the elderly (not all!) basically moan about this day and age, but when we take a deeper look, there is some truth to what they are saying. They came from the times when hard work and struggle were a huge part of western society. From helping to re-build cities and towns after the second world war, to fetching coal to heat their houses, they understand the balance between  being lazy to being overly tough minded. They know what they are entitled to, but they are prepared to work hard for it if need be.

So if we are leading that way, what can we do to stop it or at least disrupt this trend of attitude that is  turning most of  us into selfish bottom feeders? Well there are a few solutions that will do just that.

  • Relax your mind- Yes, it's easy to get caught up in the problems and tasks of the day, but most days you have to be honest with yourself. Is that issue on your mind that important to fuss over right now? or is that horrid person who stopped speaking to you worth bothering about? A relaxed mind would not need a demand for instant satisfaction in life most of the time. A bothered mind with unnecessary issues would lead to an over reliance on convenience. 

  • Don't get caught up in the adverts-  You've probably snatched up the i Phone 4, the Wii U, the new Beats headphones or the Beatspill because of how the adverts had splashed all over the TV, Internet and posters of how awesome these products are, but if these types of products are not giving you a major benefit other than feeling good then don't get it.  To be clear, there is nothing wrong in paying attention to adverts of  new and improved devices and gadgets but you have to ask yourself : Do I really need to buy it?

  • Get over yourself- We've heard this phrase before all over the place, but this time use it to humble yourself when living life in general. There is a evil cloud of selfishness that is roaming around modern civilisation as of late. We've seen it:  "I want this now!", "Your taking too long!" "You're in the way". This type of behaviour is real bad. It's not to say you should not look out for your own, but to realise others are important as yourself.

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