Those that have everything value nothing. Those that have nothing value everything.

This rule although not perfect, does possess a strong element of truth. One of the problems in today's society is that this present generation in many cases has been given too much.

We need light, we flip a switch. We are cold, we press a button. We demand entertainment we turn on the TV. This ease of living although convenient, harbours complacency. We expect the rest of life to be this easy, and get despondent or angry when it is not.

In the past the battle for food was a major part of a human life. Today things are pre-packaged and ready to go, without us having to worry where things have come from or who has suffered in its preparation. We live in a fast-food world where things are expected to be made instantly, and we complain when it isn't.

Computer technology is a wonderful advantage; the internet is one of the modern wonders of the world. But this is something that has developed complacency in the development of written skills. It is all too easy for example to use spell check than to actually learn to spell. This is the attitude of the modern person.

This neat little world in which we have created around ourselves has the effect of smothering us and covering our eyes to the true values of life. The technologies in which we are so proud of have begun to replace the companionship of real people. Today people send each other emails and texts, whereas in the past people had to suffer the inconvenience of actually meeting and talking with other people.

We have become lonely and isolated through such technology. Take a random search of chat rooms or forums at anytime and you will see its messages filled with millions of people trying to reach out in conversation, you will find people that are bored and in need of real company, and most of them don't even know it.

Technology is a thing that we should rule, but technology has become a thing that is ruling us. The conveniences of life should be used, but not in the rejection of other people, and in the rejection of communities. The keyword as ever is balance.

When we can learn to balance the things in our life then we can take the benefits of all. The suffering of other people in other counties and other systems should be something in which we learn from, instead it is all too easy to ignore. We all want to be happy in our daily lives but it must be remembered that the only true way to experience happiness and the positives in life, is to feel the negatives and sadness in which exist just around us.

In short, we should open our eyes further than our computer screens or our phones, and help those which are not as lucky as ourselves, at least then we can truly feel good about the easy lives in which we are lucky to have been born into. In many African countries a simple pencil provides the key to a better life. Let's not ever forget how truly lucky we are.

Learn more about this author, John Neely.
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