We're In Need Of A Timeout

"There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past." - George Carlin

Time is something that most don't have enough of, while others have too much of it on their hands. Neither one is the real problem, it's that most of us fail to utilize the time we have properly. We got speed walk, speed dial, speed this and speed that. We eat instant rice, instant noodles and fast food from places that speed cook the food they serve. Imagine what our health is getting to be like.

We have to use computers that bring up websites and other programs super fast. We got instant messaging, instant that and instant this all in the name of instant gratification. What has happened to waiting for a few more seconds or minutes? It's all a blur to me now. If walking hasn't become fast enough, we have jet planes and bullet trains to get us somewhere faster. Apparently the Toronto airport has a moving sidewalk that moves at 40 kilometers a hour. Probably to even things up customs will delay people for a longer period of time. Are we dizzy yet?

It's one thing to be busy but it doesn't mean a person can't take a few minutes of downtime every day. I've seen people get really antsy while waiting in a store line up. Some people don't even take a full allotment of their vacation time or when they do they take some of their work with them. Or see how many more friends they have on Facebook.

Even advertising has gone fast. Two companies, SaskTel and BNSF, have their company name lean to the right indicating a hurry. To save more time how companies use initials to save time from reading the whole company name? Even movies and TV show are now in fast forward. A few years ago I watched a portion of game 3 of the Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union in 1972. The pace of the game was so much slower than what it was when I quit watching hockey in 1994. Ever see the news ticker tape at the bottom of CNN and the CTV (Canadian Television Network) new channel? A person could get permanent cross eyes from watching it.

We want to live faster than what we can legally drive. It's time to find some middle ground at least on days off before it affects or health, family and social life.