june12

June 12th 2016

STRESS

the kind you cause yourself
the kind others cause you
the kind you get due to your health
the kind the world causes
the kind that comes from money troubles
the kind from the past
the kind from the future

I often use this analogy:
what would a pioneer have done?

We are so fortunate
to have so much available to us
so very quickly
and generally on demand.

If we are ill,
even for the smallest thing,
we have access to medical help.

If we need company,
we can walk out our front door
and see our neighbour,
or we can use our cordless phones
and cell phones to talk,
or chat on our computers!

If we are hungry,
we can open a refrigerator,
heat something in a microwave,
or pop around the corner
and grab some take out.

If we want to go somewhere
not only do we have our cars,
but we have mass transit,
and for most of us
everything is super close.

If we are uncomfortable
we turn up the heat
or turn on the a\c.

If we are bored
we have tv,
we have electronic games
and we have computers.

Our children and grandchildren
no longer know the joys
of late night hide and seek,
kick the can,
spin the bottle
and have no way of knowing
what actual fun is,
because most children
already have at least access
to a laptop or computer,
constant access to a tv and dvd player
and a phone.

The pioneers were a long time ago!
but would they want
everything we have today?
Would they give up
the horse and carriage ride
to the church social,
to chat on the internet?

When the elderly become a burden
on our over-priviledged lives,
we stick them in a home
where someone else can take care of them
and forget to visit them.

It is easier to toss in a movie
to babysit the children,
than read them a story.
or send them to a playroom filled
with a thousand unplayed with
toys, games and stuffed animals.

Even only going back to the 50's,
would your Mom trade the kind
of tv she experienced
for the garbage we have now?

Would you trade
one of grandma's homemade pies
for the mass produced crap
you can buy in the stores?

It is so easy to stress
about all the great advances we have now
and forget the hard life of the pioneer,
but
with ease comes loss.

Loss of life skills, flavours,
real life interaction
and some of the simple things life offers,
that we have become too busy
or self indulgent to enjoy.

I do not want to trade my whole life
to live like a pioneer!



I just want to make wise decisions
for my family and me
that will allow us to live
and experience some of the joys
that they did sitting around the fireplace
or dining table every night.


Good night from John Street