Missing Out

There was a time when the information highway consisted of a two-lane country road. That time has given way to an eight-lane expressway where every tidbit of news, sports, weather, and other associated minutiae can be accessed from one minute to the next. We are no longer tied to our desk or our lap: smart phones allow us to remain on the cutting edge of what’s happening and thus avoid missing out on anything.

This aversion to missing out on anything that might be happening anywhere at anytime has contributed greatly to the hectic lifestyle many of us seek to avoid. We have eschewed the gaps that once existed between our doses of information for a never-ending stream of bits and bytes. Those gaps allowed us to concentrate on the people and interests in our lives without sacrificing our more worldly awareness. No longer, though: chatting, people watching, or any other personal sampling of that which passes in the course of a day has been replaced by email, twitter, facebook, and such. We can also establish electronic alerts so we can interrupt our current electronic interaction to see the latest, breaking report on the ball game or the flood or the stock market.

But that’s all good, you know, because we don’t want to miss out on anything, no sir. I hate to break it to you, but you’re missing out on a far larger part of life by not missing out on the latest piece of information. Your life, to be exact. You know: family, neighbors, hobbies, chores. The whole shebang that you lose sight of when concentrating on the tiny screen in your hands or the monitor on your desk (or lap). These other, more substantive pursuits don’t have off buttons, nor can they be rewound or paused. They continue on, uninterrupted, regardless of your participation and anything that occurs while you are pre-occupied is lost forever.

We only have so many hours in a day and must choose how that time is best spent. Make no mistake: no one avoids missing out on something. It comes down to priorities, I suppose. Miss out on the latest story or miss out on living your life with your loved ones and the activities you cherish most. What with 24/7 news and sports channels, it seems that one could catch up on the activities of the world much easier than catching up on the activities of those who should carry a far greater import. There is an additional benefit in turning into a rest stop on the information superhighway: the pace of our lives slows. Not a lot, perhaps, but to a point where a deep breath is a possibility and who doesn’t need one of those now and then? Go on...give it a try: find that OFF button and give it a good, hard push. You might be surprised at how good it feels. And maybe even more surprised to discover what you’ve been missing.