Be careful of the ER
I realize we live in some of the easiest times...with regards to having quality built homes, electricity, heating, cooling, indoor plumbing, free education, transportation, food safety, labor laws, ease of communication (due to the telephone, television and more recent technologies) vaccinations, antibiotics, medicines and other diagnostic tools. However, in some ways, I feel like this ease of life has also caused the rise of insecurities as they relate to belonging, purpose and meaning. And when a person feels alone on an island, they are more likely to lose hope and self-harm or harm others.
There was a time when people spent most of their day working on securing the essentials, like food and wood for the winter months (if you lived North) and locating plants for medicine (if you lived in the jungle) and protecting your communities from predators (if you lived in the wild anywhere on the planet) People learned specific skills and they were never questioned. If you made shoes and they worked (and were priced right) there was nothing more to talk about. I realize this little rant is an over simplification and I also realize entrepreneurs have always been with us and are a HUGE part of making a better world for all. I also wonder if this non-stop asking of ER questions -- is this OK?
RichER ~ ThinER ~ PrettiER ~ SmartER ~ CoolER What is enough?
What else can we make? Sell? Procure? Manufacture? Produce?
Can we do it bettER?
Can we make it lightER?
Can it go FastER?
Can we make it CheapER?
How do we make it EasiER?
Is this constant pivoting and reinvention as a society helping us?
To remove all struggles...
Because of search engines, now, we don't have to strategize on how to obtain the information
Because of touch screens, we don't have to remember the sequence or mechanics of using tools
Because of delivery and drive ups, we no longer have to work on our people skills
I guess what I'm wondering is, is a life without struggle a better life than one with some struggle? Of course, I'm not talking about a life of extreme struggle like places of famine or war, I'm talking about the regular struggles that many of us experienced (before this current climate) that have grown us into the confident adults we are today.
What if you don't have the perfect school experience...
and you struggle to fit in — its OK
What if you don't care about sports or other national obsessions...
and you struggle to find meaning in society — its OK
What if you don't go to college...
and you fumble for years to create a career — its OK
What if you don't want what others want for you...
and you are forced to live on ramen noodles and water — its OK
What if you reject the religion you were raised in...
and you cherry pick what speaks to you — its OK
What if you decided to invest in locating that thing you were born for...
and you don't discover it until 40 — its OK
What is enough?
What if we allowed each other to be human beings and not just human doings?
