"...The Good Ol' Days?" A published personal perspective...

On 01.18.13 • In NOW Marketing Group, social media management • by nowmarketing

http://cheezburger.com/2038071552

“In the good old days…”

We were out of touch.

Face it: We…

> Wrote letters – maybe.
> Made phone calls – maybe.
> Made appointments to connect in person – maybe…

Or tried to.

We trusted our morning paper and our television to keep us in touch with the world and – even as news broke –it was already old.

In the time it took to…

> Go to the store and buy film for our camera,
> Take pictures,
> Use up the roll of film,
> Wind it up in our camera and drop it off at the store,
> Get it back a week later,

We lost weeks of time and our kids grew two inches.

By the time you…

> Got the brainstorm to write that long overdue letter,
> Bought stamps,
> Found paper, pen, and an envelope,
> Wrote the letter,
> Sealed it up and found a mailbox,
> Heard about its arrival a week later,

You, as the letter-writer, not only forgot what you wrote, you moved past the highlights of the letter and were entrenched in a lot of other new and exciting events and happenings.

And you needed to repeat the whole process. AGAIN.

Today…

> We get the idea,
> Brainstorm the idea,
> Fine-tune the idea,
> Implement the idea,

Then go on to the next idea with as many people as we can think of, as quickly as we can move our fingers. Instantaneously!  As part of our daily life.

As fast as you can grab your smartphone, tablet or other techno-device, you can release your ideas-thoughts-opinions-solutions, building relationships and generating much more of the same as you simultaneously and instantaneously breathe…

> With spelling and grammar check,
> With enhancements,

And create a beautifully-finished product that is signed-sealed-delivered-received NOW.

DONE. And you still have a LOT more hours of sunshine left in your day for MORE! 

Now we can be found, be social, and be useful while we breathe and live life, because

> Relationships are PART of life, and
> Relationships ARE life.

And now we can enjoy a much fuller and deeper life because of the instantaneous way we can enjoy our relationships throughout our life.  All because of social media.

Have a thought?

> Share it!

Have an idea?

> Pursue it!

Have a question?

> Answer it!

Want to stay in touch?

> Facebook it!

Want to be in the know and stay in the know with the latest and greatest trends, news, and ideas?

> Tweet it!

Want to network and share professional discussions with colleagues?

> Get LinkedIn with your network!

Want to share expertise in an engaging visual format?

> YouTube it!

So for the hour that you just spent online, what did you accomplish?

A lot more than…

“In the good old days…”

~ Sandy

Sandy is the Internet Marketing Management Director for Now Marketing Group, where we enable your organization to ‘be found, be social and be useful’ through online relationship marketing. While yes – it’s true!! – she’s lived through some “good old days”, she definitely enjoys the advantages of the “here and now” so much more.

Think Social Media is just for teenagers? Sandy’s still a teenager.. with a lot of years of experience!

Wow. It's almost hateful how fast time can fly when you really don't want it to. I treasure the winter months for the occasional blizzard or, at the very least, ice storm or other temporary diversion to everyday normalcy that keeps everyone inside for at least a day or two when I can get caught up with all the stuff I've put aside simply because everyday life has gotten in the way of doing everything I want to do and don't have time to do...

except this year. This year the weather has been absolutely uncooperative with snow emergencies or otherwise and life has been progressively active to the extent where...

Where has the time gone to WRITE?  Yes, I do know. My life revolves around writing - writing for everyone except for myself - and much has been accomplished for all those I've head responsibility to write for. Except myself!

So, here are a few moments on a quiet Sunday night, as my cat is sitting lazily in front of me daydreaming cat daydreams, for me to pause...

catch my breath...

and wish - hope - wonder...

Where has the time gone this winter?

The more accurate question, I'm afraid, is: Are we going to have winter this winter?  Just one day - one nasty ice-snow-blizzard event so we can all walk away from what is called winter into the next realm of spring with something to complain about and one day in our recent memory banks to treasure because we got to enjoy being forced to be stuck at home to get all the stuff done we have to put off because we don't have enough time...

I'll wait and see... :-)

Or will this have to wait... until next year...?

I went back today.

Did you ever go back to a former life as a visitor, instead of a participant? Did you ever return to a former existence, when it's no longer your reality?

I went back to the place where I spent years of my life, where I poured a lot of my life - my heart - everything I had - and I went back as a spectator instead of the participant.

And it was exhilarating.

People I used to spend hours each day working with and for are now friends and acquaintances, and not my focus. I had time today to relax, to chat, and to pour my soul and being into others - instead of having it emptied from me.
I had time to love, to listen, to learn, to... enjoy.

I trust that if you ever leave a place in your life that seemed permanent,
but ended up not...
      a place that consumed you, but time gave replenishment...
            or a place that was your entire reality, but became a place in your history...
                  that you can return a better person - a bigger person - a stronger person
                         for the experience that made you that way.

I went back there today.
And for all of it - and for where I am today because of it - I am thankful.

The value of... time...

Ramblings as I sit and consider…

Time - a resource that cannot be created or repeated; an invaluable source of blessings (or a curse); a cherished gift (“the present”) that gets more valuable as a person gets older.

Time is meant to be used wisely, even when it means studying one’s navel to refocus and refresh.

Time - an effective channel to obtain information, wise counsel, and for moving forward in life.  Time hurts, time heals, and can move too slowly or too quickly.

How long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.

 ~ Zall's Second Law

Time is valuable: a source for compounding interest to create wealth, calming nerves, and for dealing with the challenges of life.  MUCH has been written about the "Value of Time"; typing those 3 words into Google provided: About 659,000,000 results. 

Wikipedia's explanation for the value of time comes in economic terms as an opportunity cost for decision-making and, when one reverses the order to read about time value, the discussion brings a storm of equations to calculate the financial repercussions of investing over time to achieve wealth - while their discussion of compound interest graphically illustrates the financial value of time as it relates to a$$et building. 

In Benjamin Franklin’s words: Time is money. Yes. It is.  

 And so much more.

Time is priceless.  It lives outside of a quantitative box as a qualitative entity to embrace and capture within its fluidity and with a positive, hopeful attitude of joy.  The future value of time comes from the he♥rt - not from a summation function.  An expectant heart looks at a positive value of time.  A disgruntled, disheartened, discouraged heart won’t value time, but will see it as an empty and bottomless pit that spirals downward for them.  The value of time = a choice.  A personal choice.  My choice. 

The internet is a plethora of research results, and among the results for “value of time” is an unknown source’s insights (which follow) that echo the fact that time = priceless.  Embrace time with a smile, enjoy it with enthusiasm, and experience excited expectation for what awaits ahead.  Find joy in your journey – each and every moment of it. 

Realize the value of time. Time in perspective.

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank.  Its name is time.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.  It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back.  There is no drawing against the tomorrow.
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running.  Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have!  And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember, time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.  That's why it's called the present.