Quick Fixes

Our society isn’t patient at all. We want things now and we convince ourselves that we need things now. What’s happened to us?

I was a the pool last night and I had to wait in line for 10 minutes for the cashier to finish whatever it was that she was doing before she could help the growing line of customers waiting to get into the locker rooms. I found myself anxious and annoyed that I wouldn’t be able to start my swim promptly at 7:30. I even considered leaving since I obviously wouldn’t be able to get in my full 1 hour workout. I had to stop myself and think about how ridiculous I was being.

A friend of mine is trying to lose weight so she is doing a cleansing diet. She knows someone else who has done this and lost 15 pounds (or something like that) in a week and has continued to lose weight since then. Of course she is losing weight, she isn’t eating anything. What’s going to happen once she starts eating again? It’ll all balloon back on. The only tried and true method of getting the body you want (unless you’re born with an amazing metabolism and perfect genes) is to work hard getting in shape and eating right. You can do all the other fad things but in the long run it’s only a healthy lifestyle change that is going to make a difference. The weight may not be off tomorrow or even next week, but 10 years down the line take a look in the mirror.

There are a series of people in my life (or people I am acquainted with) who have recently been married or gotten engaged after only dating their significant others less than a full year before popping the question – one couple was as short as two weeks. Granted each situation is different and each couple is different. Some have known each other much longer than a year, but still, marriage is a huge thing, not something to rush into. Being friends or knowing someone is totally different than dating him/her. People change so much and I think you have to go through a few changes with that person in order to know if you’ll be able to adjust to the changes you’ll encounter together for the rest of your lives.

My computer has been acting slow and it’s frustrating. But I have to remind myself that 10 years ago it would have taken our top of the line household computer a whole day to complete the tasks that I am now able to complete in an hour. The computer wasn’t slow then so why should I complain if I have to wait an additional 2 seconds for a website to load?

I know it’s not exactly comparing apples to apples, but it’s also not apples to oranges. There’s a huge shift in our society and people are impatient. We’re hurrying and running around and not taking the time to enjoy life and just be. Our economy is plummeting and everyone wants a fix now. Well I have news for you all. The economy didn’t die overnight and it isn’t going to come back overnight. It’s going to take time. I’ve come to realize that time is the most precious commodity. What I want right now is time. Time to learn, time to explore, time to sleep, and time to just be.

Yes, I’m anxious to live my life and know what is in store for me, but I also know that it’s going to be here and gone before I even realize it. I don’t want to look back and ask where all the time went. I want to look back and be able to say that I enjoyed my time and experienced every moment of it. It’s a lot to ask for, but you can’t expect something to happen if you don’t hope for it. I’ll leave you with this quote.

“Many people don't lose because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit." -Les Brown