Everyday I constantly see the same thing . . . people on the go, quickly leaving one place after the other. I then start to wonder, are they really living? Can we truly enjoy something when we merely pass by it, giving it just a glance? We seem to quickly scarf down our food instead of savoring the taste. We favor quick bits of information instead of studying and learning the entire story. We're overly opinionated and we make biased conclusions for what we hear about; instead of taking the time to gather all the facts.

The things I enjoy in life, I'm a bit obsessed about them. And I admit, I don't think we have enough obsessions anymore. I enjoy extremely long talks with a good friend that seem to go on forever. When I do something I like it done right, and I know that it takes time to do that. I'm also usually the last one done eating at the table. But then people say, "But Sam, you don't have as much to do as we do." But that just makes me ask, why do people fill their schedules with so much to do anyway? As long as you're a good, honest person that can take care of themselves, I do not see the need to keep yourself so busy. Most everybody always says "I wish I had more time to do the things I want to do," but then they do not make the choices to change that.

I was just reading this magazine that told people different ways to spend their time. They were all great suggestions, the problem was that they assumed that people don't have more than thirty minutes of "free time" and I think that's just plain sad. I think if you're truly content within yourself, every time should feel like "free time," no matter what you are doing. It's that type of inner peace that I think is lacking in the world. Think about it -- if you feel right within yourself, there is little people can do to break your spirits. It's that spark of happiness that nobody can take away from you. However, people don't ever take the time to appreciate that. Many people don't even pay attention to just how good a glass of water feels sliding down your throat, or the simple act of petting a cat. It's because their mind is "elsewhere," either stuck in the past with regrets or stuck in the future of "what they have to do." People need to wake up and understand that people aren't going to remember what you "do," they're going to remember how you treated them, and how you treated yourself.

Of course, the media is at fault too. We're bombarded with messages that sadly support the view of "faster is always better" instead of changing the core issue. Faster technology definitely has its perks, but it's not all good. I actually had much more fun on the net in the late 90s because most people didn't have broadband back then, so we were all stuck doing one thing at a time instead of over-sensitizing (which ironically leads to DE-sensitization!) ourselves with a million things at once. Now my computer can handle performing lot of tasks simultaneously, but back then I was forced to just stay in a chat room and get to know people instead of always having my away message up.

My point is simply that the world would be a much better place if people just slowed down. People that look truly happy, do they ever look all tense and worried? I don't think so. We always say how we have such a big problem with anxiety and depression, yet we focus on changing the wrong things. Of course you're going to be tense and nervous when you're running around a billion miles per hour.

If you want to enjoy life, you have to make the time to appreciate things. Look at it this way: when you find somebody attractive, do you just glance at them or do you stare with your mouth half-way open while your friend laughs at you? And really, everything is always more beautiful when you take the time to study them.

© Sam Leonard
Life Channels Staff Writer
All Rights Reserved

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