Random thoughts

Of late my opinion and perception of things seems to have become slightly different. 1.Food. Eating is not a big issue now.Convenience and time saving eating places are of prime importance.What we eat is not that important but whom we eat with matters.With today's lifestyle its quite difficult to have the whole family sitting down for dinner at any one time.Our home eating schedule is quite unique i would say. The first shift will be ready by 530 pm , the second at around 6.15 and the last shift around 8 pm.I would normally take the first shift as the food is hot and just out of the kitchen but my system has not adjusted to this yet so usually its just a couple of spoons of rice and more on the side dishes. This is a far cry from the time when I was young.Then, dinner involved the whole family and we could only eat when dad sits down but all of us ate together and this was the time when the siblings and parents engaged in useful conversation.Logistics was also easy , as the meal was cooked and everyone ate at the same time.This also made cleaning up so much more simple.You can imagine the difficulty in having to cook for 3 different shifts and also the hassle of cleaning up.The lady of the house is only free after 8pm after the last shift is over.I suppose this is the price we pay because everyone is so busy with the rat race that the basic family activity is jeopardized. 2.Communication. People live in the same house but I cant help but feel that they tend to talk less.This is probably because people are less patient , tired and dont know how to communicate anymore.Practice makes perfect but if you cannot engage in a conversation with the right attitude then communication breaks down and we are reduced to a generation of gadget fiends who would happily play our games or serve the net whilst in the company of others. In my young days there were no such gadgets , not even Tv so it was the norm after dinner for everyone to sit in the living room and just chat away.By the way herein the meaning of the words " Living Room". We communicate basically to share knowledge, opinions or to inform and discuss things.Once we do not want to do this anymore then communication breaks down and the " Living Room " does not serve its purpose anymore.Its painful to see people impatient and get angry whilst talking over trivial matters.Just because some one says something you do not like to hear or asks for clarification there is no need to show faces or worse still get angry.What is happening to our society ? Dont we talk anymore ? Cant we accept questions or a different opinion ? Cant we participate in conversation with the true spirit of communication ? 3.Values As always there are times when we ask the question how to balance tradition with modern values ? I consider myself old fashioned in some ways because I always believe that some of the traditional values are well worth preserving as they enable us to be better persons.Respect for the elders is important but this value seems to be dying out today.Where in the olden days the elders were also consulted before anything was done, today they are considered as insignificant or not competent enough to have their opinions considered seriously. I love the way the young show their respect to the elders in the olden days.They would be greeted and served whenever possible and children were obedient and filial to their elders.How much of this do we see being practiced today ? 4.Children. During our time we would always allocate some time for the children especially during the holidays.It was a joy for us to see our kids embark on their journey of discovery and to watch them growing up.Today , as we watch our grandchildren growing up we realize that for us its rediscovering the joys of parenthood all over again.Watching them take their first steps,uttering their first words and their fascination at discovering new things are things which no parents should miss for if you miss it you will never get to experience it again with the same child.Money and work are not everything in life....sadly many people do not realize this. 5. Character. Too often we are so wrapped up in our daily life that we forget to take a good look at ourselves.A simple exercise would be to take a piece of paper and try to write down what you think of yourself. A little SWOT analysis will tell you so much more of yourself.And knowing yourself then ask yourself " Can I improve ?" " Can I be a better person ?"