Paying it forwards...

There really is something about that simple statement. I have been making a conscious effort to remain positive and always try and see the good in a situation or person of late; easier said than done at times, but certainly doable and on the whole extremely worthwhile.

It seems that life has become much more of an isolated activity, with the emphasis very much upon individual ambition, status and all things materialistic. This combined with our ongoing need to become more efficient and more effective; life is more about the business cycle than about social 'living' cycle.

I appreciate that life evolves and things progress, dragging along us mere mortals with it, but surely the point of evolving and becoming more proficient was aimed at providing a better quality of life? Technology has allowed us to carry out complex and lengthy tasks with minimal effort and resource, but to what avail? Does it allow us more time to focus on living life or simply produce more work as a result of such speedy progress?

I vote we return to pigeon post or possibly a combination of old sentiment and new technology, as the quality of life would be certain to improve. Knowing that a letter would take days, often weeks to arrive at it's destination would mean that more time would be spent ensuring the content was suitable and indeed correct, which would cut out the trail of arse covering panic of IM, SMS, BBM and MSN that seems to clog up our inbox each and every morning! Can we not simply take more time to write the email before we zap it into the ether?

So, the plan is to take a little more time on what really counts; considering others that really need help, being kind to others and ourselves in the process and kick start the idea of paying it forwards. I am all for being more efficient but not to the detriment of the life experience; work, rest and play.

Short term pain for long term gain - Abbie Lench