Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

Technology is great. It allows you to make long distance phone calls, e-mail, travel in comfort, wake up to coffee, and the list goes on and on. Technology has made many aspects of our lives easier and has made access to information just a few taps and clicks away. I won’t argue that technology has made our lives  more convenient. But has it made them any better?

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good movie or game as much as the next person. But these items come at a large cost. Primarily, our time. The time we spend using these things instead of something else and the time you spend working to pay for them.

Let me use surfing the internet as an example. In order to use the internet you need to have a computer. You also need to have an internet service of some sort to get connected. But eventually, you want the convenience of using the net anywhere in the house. So you also buy a wireless router.

Yearly Cost to access the Internet ( I used 3 years as the average lifespan of a computer/router)

• Computer: $700/ 3 Years =$233
• Internet: $40 x 12= $480
• Wireless Router= $50/3 Years+ $17

Total cost per year to have internet= $730

Now you can take some average wages to figure out how many hours you work to pay for your internet.

• $730/$7.25 per hour (US minimum wage)= 100 hours (over two full weeks for work)
• $730/10 per hour= 73 hours
• $730/15 per hour= 49 hours
• $730/20 per hour= 36.5 hours

We all love  the internet, but is it worth one week of your life each year? Would you be happier to give up internet and take an extra week or two off work. Or alternatively, would you be happier spending your time doing something else? Going for a hike or picnic instead of surfing the net or playing a board game with the family instead of watching TV.

Since I moved from Tokyo to Miyakojima, I am able to spend a lot more time outside and away from technology. I use my computer and TV far less and my body far more. In the end, I am feel happier and freer than I did when I was a “slave” to technology.

Technology definitely brings comfort. The problem is that comfort doesn’t necessarily equal happiness. Especially when the price is your valuable time.

Let me hear your thoughts. What are your views on the subject? Do you feel that having lots of luxuries and technologies makes you happy or just keeps you working more?

While waiting to get a massage yesterday at Guppi no Shitasu (a great shiatsu place here in Miyakojima), I was scanning through the various books in office book shelf. There were quite a few that interested me, but one caught my attention above all the others. A book titled やりたい事をやれ, It basically translates into “Do The Things You Want To Do”. I only read through the table of contents, but the point of the book was clear. Do the things you really want to do and you won’t have any regrets.

Like a lot of books, I wish I could have read this one much earlier in my life. It is so easy to get wrapped up in what we are expected to do that we forget what we really want to do. Life is short and precious. If you doubt this, ask anyone who is getting into there 40s or 50s or above. My grandfather used to tell me that his face changed so quick he didn’t recognize himself in the mirror any longer. The point being that we need to live in the moment and enjoy life as much as possible.

There is no formula or perfect road to life. I used to constantly worry about making mistakes, but one wrong turn doesn’t mean you can’t end up on the original path you had intended. In fact, sometimes the short detours will actually move you ahead further than would have gotten by staying on the normal path.

I rarely worry about the mistakes I have made. Some of them have actually turned out to be really great experiences. However, I do think from time to time about the things I didn’t do or the chances I didn’t take. Like the old saying goes, I don’t regret the mistakes I made, but only the things I didn’t do. So what dreams aren’t you following in your life?