Posted by TerryS (24.24.79.72) on October 27, 2000 at 16:39:31:
THE "GOOD OLD DAYS"
Does life seem to be more complicated than before? Too many
plastic cards and PIN numbers and technology? One woman quipped,
"I'd like to bank by phone, but I can't figure out how to get the
money in those little holes."
Computers, of course, are supposed to make work more efficient.
I love them -- but I feel overwhelmed by their complexity at
times. And sometimes I wonder how we became so dependent on them.
Like when retired Rear Admiral Heintz Loeffler received a
personalized computer-generated letter from a respected charity.
It began, "Dear Rear..."
But I'd hate to go back to the B.C. era (before computers). With
all its drawbacks and perplexities, progress has still carried us
forward. After all, the "good old days" were never really that
good.
Consider medicine. Early medical treatments too often relied on
scientifically unproven potions and procedures. According to Dr.
Herbert Benson in his audio tape TIMELESS HEALING (Simon &
Schuster; 1996), so-called modern medicine in days of yore often
did more harm than good. Patients endured purging, vomiting,
poisoning, cutting, blistering, bleeding, freezing, heating,
sweating, bleaching and shocking, and were advised to consume
lizard blood, crocodile dung, pig's feet, worms and spiders.
Almost all human and animal excretions were consumed or applied
in medical treatments, he writes. Is that why the expression, "If
it tastes bad, it's got to be good for you" became a cultural
maxim?
We have come a long way and I don't want to go back. Better days
are here today and tomorrow can be the best yet. I believe that
the rest of my life will be the best of my life. Let technology
advance. But let me take care of the other areas of my life, too.
I want to be a better person -- starting from the inside. I want
to constantly grow -- to cultivate healthier attitudes, develop
my character, accept greater responsibility for myself, make better
decisions, sharpen my mind, care for my body, learn to love freely and
nurture my spirit