How many times do you
hear the familiar expressions; I wish I could have done things different, or,
if only I knew better, and the big one, if I could go back in time? Most times
those expressions are uttered when people have done some things they wish they
could have done better. A lot of those times, they are the little things that
were neglected over the years. The little things in life are the
things that matters most and often times they are what we spend the least time
with. The quest is, what do we spend time with most: is it the TV, the
internet, family, friends, or the quest for money and fame? I know we all have
some things in common, bit there are things that very much in our
thinking.
There is a common theme
that is in the majority of the homes nowadays, the independent
throne rooms. With the busy life of modern America, we do just about
everything to get the most out of a day including plunging the baby
before the TV to watch Baby Einstein. Studies
have shown that babies who spent a lot of time watching TV per day perform
lower in language skills than babies who spend less. As a Huffington
post article by Alice Park puts it; Marie
Evans Schmidt, a research associate at the Center on Media & Child Health
at Children's Hospital Boston, studied more than 800 youngsters from birth to 3
years, recording the time they spent watching television or DVDs as reported by
their mothers, as well as their performance on language and motor-skill tests.
On average, the babies spent 1.2 hr. per day watching TV during their first two
years of life, slightly less than the average viewing time reported in previous
studies
Even the
good things are to be done in moderation it seems. There is a quote that a lot
of us hear that says, "The average child
will watch 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school. By age
eighteen, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including
40,000 murders." Now we wonder why people become
so desensitized to the murdering of people. The mind is trainable and
by beholding we become changed, that is bible. I am not against TV or
using it as a tool for the teaching of young babies, but do we need to leave
them plugged in and unattended for
any long time?
I am a huge fan of the internet because it is a
wonderful tool that can be utilized in many ways, from the sale and
shipment of goods without leaving the home, to developing a website that can be
the next big thing. Often times though we are locked in online to the
point that time flew by without notice. A lot of the times we are looking at,
how should I say this...nonsense? The net is a beautiful thing, but are we
making good use of it, or is it as they say, "the internet is for porn?
There always a "need" for money. We
always want money to buy this and that and all the other things in between.
Sometimes, the quest for it and the acquisition, tend to change the core of a
person, and is many instances, not for the better. A lot of the time when
people have or gain a certain amount of money, they become an enemy or they
have enemies. It is very sad to say, but money and the search for it tend to
break so really good bonds and create some that are not the best for us.
What matters most in life are family, friends, and those
little things in life that we tend to not notice until we realize that they are
vital. If we should pause and think, no matter how much money we have, how
many or big the house, or how exotic the car is. The things that
makes us really happy are the little gems in life we can get without money. The friends, little walks, the funny things a child does, the
sunshine on our skin, the warm light on the grass and just being able to live
without fear. Most times the things that makes us happy are those that
are always beckoning to us yet they are not far away. So, we should
not wait until it is too late to turn the off, unplug from the internet,
pick up the baby even and read to him instead, I am sure your voice is much
better received than whoever the characters are, and who the narrator is on those DVDs. Let us spend time with our family,
friend, and those that really matters. We all make mistakes, but we can make a
change to reconnect to our true selves. Never forget though, that the things you cannot change you should not dwell on because that is the past. We can make amends now, we can say sorry or I forgive you. A new business can be started even. One cannot change the past, but you have today, make the best of it.
