So much on my mind these days. Tired from getting up too early. Heh, I sort of sleep the same hours as when I sleep much later at night but probably because I start the day earlier, I feel tired earlier. It’s weird.

Was just thinking to myself. Life at school was much simpler, and as much as I don’t miss studying (the exams and assignments), I do miss the actual quality of life I had back then. Goals were geared to single semesters. You could put all your efforts into a short span of 3 months then take a break and forget about everything. I remember how I could just put down all worries about school work and go for a holiday, as time would seem to stand still for you.

Now it’s welcome to the adult world. Everything is a continuous cycle, sort of like a rat race. You constantly worry about stuff that you hadn’t bothered about before. There’s taxes to worry about, insurance, mortgages etc etc etc. Do we have to worry so much about our future security now that we have stopped thinking about cherishing the present? It’s not to say I’m a person without ambition, but luxurious cars, property and lifestyles don’t really convey a sense of living. People become too attached to their ‘things’ and forget about the things that are truly important in life, like I’ve mentioned before, the relationships we have with friends and family. Even with your Mastercard, you can’t buy those funny and candid moments in life. I really prefer to just spend time with people, even if all it ends up to be is a memory, at least it will be a good memory. Material things come and go, but memories last a life time (heh, sounds real cliche but it’s true).

Here’s an email I was sent a week or so ago. It’s written by George Carlin, an article called the Paradox of Our Time (or so states the email). I will quote the email here in its entirety.

GEORGE CARLIN, POST 9-11 (His wife recently died…) Isn’t it amazing that George Carlin the mouthy comedian of the 70′s and 80′s could write something so very eloquent, and so very appropriate.

A wonderful Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

George Carlin