What could be gained for waiting?

There is something precious lost in the expedient times in which we live. People don’t know what it’s like to wait for things that are important anymore. We have to be connected to the network, to be updated constantly, to know what’s going on every second of every hour of every day. What was it like to wait for a response in the mail? What was it like to wonder what people thought because a little brother or sister was taking all the phone time? What was it like before texting and IM? What was it like before normal conversation died?

Sometimes I worry that we’ve gone too far to be able to find our way back. Is life really better now?

I’m frustrated that my worth is now measured by the friends I’ll claim on Facebook. Everybody knows there’s no way to be able to keep up with all of the people I’ve ever met in my life. But somehow, nobody cares.

I remember the days when I would purposely send friends a card in the mail. That personal touch is still so important to me. But is it still important to them? Is it as good to get something in your email inbox as it was to find something special in your mailbox?

Remember phone calls? I barely do. My phone hardly ever rings anymore with real calls. Mostly I hear the little noise indicating that I’ve got a text message. And I am just as guilty. I will more often send someone a text than risk interrupting their hectic lives.

And don’t even get me started on the death of imagination. It’s not that I’m anti- computer or video games. I just think that they have replaced the use of good old fashioned imagination. What is it like to pretend? …Yeah, we have no idea anymore.

There is something precious lost when we can’t create anything other than with cutting and pasting on our computers. There is a seriously tangible difference in creating something new and special with your hands than just with your fingers on cold hard keys. It makes me sad to think about my kids not learning how to make something tangible, something tactile. It makes me sad to think how we are so surprised when someone tells us that they don’t even own a television. Is that even possible? How do they survive?

So, is there anything to be gained for waiting? Will we somehow explode because it took 10 minutes to do something instead of the instant we've become used to?
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