“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human
spirit, no barrier to our progress except those we erect.” —Ronald Reagan
When I allow myself to
reminiscence, I often get melancholy. It is easy to get sad when you think
about the good things that just aren’t here anymore.
I went to the local mall
last week looking for a computer company that sold out of a kiosk on the main
aisle. After walking to the end of the mall and returning and not seeing their
kiosk, I asked at the information booth if they had relocated. “No,” the
information specialist said, “they aren’t here anymore.”
From there I went inside
one of the retail stores; once the giant of retailing, I wanted to look at
their electric shavers. Sadly, after five minutes of looking for a sales
consultant, I realized, clerks just aren’t there anymore. So, I left without
making a purchase.
Electronic stores no
longer stock cassette players; any clerks under thirty-five years of age has no
idea of what you are referring to when you tell them you have hundreds of old
cassettes and want to be able to listen to them. Their quizzical look asks, “Why would anyone
want to listen to Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziegler, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon,
or Red Rider? “
When I was growing up,
there was a great steakhouse in my hometown. It served the best bacon-wrapped filet
mignon and twice baked potato one could ever hope to eat. At mealtime, the
restaurant was crowded, but the wait was worth it. The original owners died and
the next generation over. It was never the same. The quality and service just
wasn’t there. And today, the restaurant
isn’t there anymore.
I often remind myself that
nostalgia has a place in life, and the past has played a role in who we are and what we do. But, in most cases, it should never play the major role in what
we can become or what we can do. The
yesterdays are gone—they aren’t here anymore—and the tomorrows are
uncertain—they aren’t here yet. Therefore, make today count for something.
People must realize that today is all they have and that they should maximize
the moment. “Reflect upon your present blessings,” wrote Charles Dickens, “of which every man has many - not on your
past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
You find success, not in
the past but the present. Motivational giant, Tony Robbins stated it well, “I've come to
believe that all my past failure and frustrations were laying the foundation
for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.”
I found my cassette
player, a Slim Line Panasonic
cassette recorder plus 35 unused cassettes at a garage sale—ten dollars. I
bought a new computer at Best Buy and
purchased my new electric razor, without sales help, at Target. I occasionally eat a steak and a blooming onion at The Outback.
There are a lot of people,
places and things that aren’t here anymore. Some people call this progress. The
same people offer “change” as a synonym. But I am not certain that all change
is an advancement. I prefer my laptop computer to the old IBM Selectric
typewriter; High Definition TV beats my old black and white Philco TV; cable
and rabbit ears aren’t even comparable; cell phones and the old 5-lb. Dial
phone are generations apart. There are a lot of things better described as,
“not being here anymore.”
Maybe, in the name of
progress, we have gone a little overboard. Courtesy is on the endangered
list—seldom is it exhibited anymore.
Customer service is as rare as a, “Thank you.” Quality left with the craftsman. Giving has been replaced by getting. The importance of “You” has
been replaced with the self-indulgent “Me”. Rock-solid values supersede
situational ethics.
Innovative people and organizations are
good at blending the past with the present. They bet on change, hedge their bet
by building on the best of the past using innovative twists to deliver the
market what it wants.
Maybe a compromise is a
good idea when it comes to the new vs. the old. Advances in technology and
production, without a doubt, improved our standard of living. But advances in
communications have not necessarily improved our ability to transmit ideas and
feelings. I think I will pick up my phone and call an old friend and just say,
“I appreciate you.”
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