Yesterday, I wrote about the Good Old Days.

If you are a “younger” reader who didn’t experience any of what I listed yesterday, it probably sounded like a frightfully archaic time.

Yeah, I see the wheels in your head turning and thinking, “What was so great about all of that? And no internet? She’s cray cray!”

Those were good times because when I look back as a full fledged adult, I realize just how great of a training ground it was – hardships and all.

I won’t speak for any of the other “seasoned” readers here but I will speak for myself when I say that :

• I learned the art of patience – like saving up birthday money over a period of years to buy something I really, really wanted which made the purchase sweeter and the buzz lasted longer;
• I appreciated the non-material things in life – like hanging out listening to old stories of family/friends or taking a impromptu day trip across the border (5 of us piled into the backseat pre-mandatory seatbelt days) to Pizza Hut before they existed in Canada;
• I understood the clear difference between “needs” and “wants“. Just because I wanted something didn’t mean that I would get it. And with South American/Caribbean parents, even if I could use my birthday money and they said no, I knew better than to ask “why”. “No” was a full sentence and no explanation was provided;
• I learned that good behavior and manners were expected (and not always rewarded);
• I developed reasoning skills by figuring out certain problems on my own and being self-reliant because my parents weren’t, wouldn’t and couldn’t be at my beck and call;
• I appreciated the boundaries between work life and home life that my family tried to keep;
• I understood that the more effort I put into getting something I wanted, the sweeter the feeling of accomplishment was when I actually did get it;
• I enjoyed that every minute of each day didn’t need to be filled with “doing something” – it was okay to just sit back and do nothing sometimes.

Today, life is all about expediency with less efficiency...

Throwing money at the latest trendy gadget the moment it’s released when its not necessary to even buy…

Keeping up with or trying to outdo the Joneses because of FOMO (fear of missing out)…

Being trapped in an addictive loop of “fake busyness” that does nothing to advance the important things in life.

Yeah, I sound like an old fuddy duddy today but I’ve been witnessing some incredibly ridiculous ridiculousness these days as “Back to School” shopping has begun. 🤔

What positive lessons did you learn from the good old days?

All Rights Reserved ©2017 Marquessa Matthews

Save