Tomorrow is going to be my big shopping day - as I will be exploring some books for my library as I have no unread books. As I was searching some books online, I came across a book by Dr PeterWhybrow, " American Mania: When more is not enough" Whybrow states that we have a nation of “bigger houses but smaller families; more conveniences but less time; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; taller buildings but shorter tempers; more knowledge but less judgment.”
I am sure lot of you might have read and understood this, but are we doing anything on this? for ourselves, our family, friends. I think we spend more time at work, computer, phones then with friends, family and our community. Its like ragging oneself? With the increase in size of our houses, plasma TV, car etc our happiness, our satisfaction with life, our sense of meaning is decreasing.
Though still there is a huge population which is fighting for its basic requirements but lot of us have access to excess. When my teenage son Sameep tells me about his friends moving in BMW's or Merc's or the expensive meals they indulge in and lot more I feel so much sorry for him and his generation as this is leading to insatiable desires. The more we acquire, the more we have, the more we want, the more we eat thus the more we work, the more we stress and the more depressed we become. Do we really want a life of stress, anxiety and loneliness? i think we should take time for ourselves, for the people we love and for the society we live in. We should slow down as and when required. We should turnoff the cellphone and refrain from checking our emails. We should very often have a leisurely dinner with our family. We have to take time to savor sweetness of life.
I have been working for more than 85 hours a week for last 5-6 years and have gone through all the stress and may be the only thing I have gained out of this is some more money and more than required comfort but missed out on the important milestones which now as I grow old remember and regret.
I am sure lot of you might have read and understood this, but are we doing anything on this? for ourselves, our family, friends. I think we spend more time at work, computer, phones then with friends, family and our community. Its like ragging oneself? With the increase in size of our houses, plasma TV, car etc our happiness, our satisfaction with life, our sense of meaning is decreasing.
Though still there is a huge population which is fighting for its basic requirements but lot of us have access to excess. When my teenage son Sameep tells me about his friends moving in BMW's or Merc's or the expensive meals they indulge in and lot more I feel so much sorry for him and his generation as this is leading to insatiable desires. The more we acquire, the more we have, the more we want, the more we eat thus the more we work, the more we stress and the more depressed we become. Do we really want a life of stress, anxiety and loneliness? i think we should take time for ourselves, for the people we love and for the society we live in. We should slow down as and when required. We should turnoff the cellphone and refrain from checking our emails. We should very often have a leisurely dinner with our family. We have to take time to savor sweetness of life.
I have been working for more than 85 hours a week for last 5-6 years and have gone through all the stress and may be the only thing I have gained out of this is some more money and more than required comfort but missed out on the important milestones which now as I grow old remember and regret.
2 comments:
Look for the book called 'The Kite Runner' and one by Robin Sharma which has Anecdotes about Life.
check this out -
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=bwVVpwBKUp0&feature=related
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