The paradox of our time

This is something I know almost everyone has read, but I think we forget it quickly enough that it is good to keep reminding ourselves.. The paradox of our time is that we have tall buildings but little tolerance, broad motorways but narrow views. We spend more but have less, buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but less time. We have more education but less sense, more knowledge but poorer judgement, more experts but also more problems, more medicine but less health. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too easily, go to bed too late, wake up too tired, read too little, watch too much television and pray too rarely. We have increased our possessions but diminished our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We know how to survive, but not how to live. We have added years to human life, but not life to those years. We went to the Moon and back, but struggle to cross the street and meet our new neighbour. We have conquered the expanses of space, but not those of the soul. We do bigger things, but not better things. We have purified the air, but not the soul. We have tamed the atom, but not our prejudices. We write more but learn less. We plan more but achieve less. We have learned to hurry, but not to wait. We make new computers that store more information and churn out more copies than ever before, but we communicate less and less. This is the time of fast food and poor digestion, big men and small souls, easy profits and difficult relationships. A time of higher family incomes and more divorces, prettier houses and broken homes. A time of short trips, disposable nappies and disposable morality, one-night stands and excess weight, and pills that do everything: excite us, calm us, kill us. A time with much in the shop window but little in the warehouse. A time when technology lets this letter reach you, but also lets you share it or simply press “delete”. Remember to give more time to those you love, because they will not be with you forever. Remember to say a kind word to the one looking up at you with admiration, because that little being will soon grow up and no longer be beside you. Remember to warmly embrace the person next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give from your heart that costs not a penny. Remember to say “I love you” to your loved ones, but above all, truly mean it. A kiss and an embrace can mend any wrong when they come from the heart. Remember to hold hands and cherish your moments together, because one day that person will no longer be beside you. Make time to love each other, find time to talk, and find time to share everything you have to say. Because life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.