The Things I learn

I have a confession to make, every morning while I am getting ready for work I watch old episodes of the Andy Griffith show. I have always loved that show, especially the older ones, the ones in black and white. I appreciate the gentle humor, a story told in 30 minutes, a lesson learned. There is always a lesson to learn, whether Andy is getting his hat handed to him by the women of the town or watching him parent Opie and admitting to a little boy when he, the parent, has made a mistake and must own up to it.

One can learn a lot from watching this classic television show, I think, in today’s hectic society, that this show is exactly what people need. A chance to see life in a slower pace, appreciating those around you and taking the time to interact with others.

With the advent of smart phones, tablets, computers everywhere, we are losing our ability to interact in a personal way. This is my belief, I find myself being drawn in, I carry my smart phone with me, ever connected to the world at large, but not interacting in person. Alex tells me he hates the computer, I am beginning to agree with him, he rarely texts me, instead he calls. We talk person to person and I like it, you can convey so much more voice to voice than you can in text messaging.

Elizabeth also calls me, now she and I text a lot, but that is because for 11 hours a day, 4 days a week, I am at work and not able to take calls. So she and I communicate a lot via text and twitter.  Jeffrey is more of a face-to-face kind of child, he prefers communicating in person. I enjoy that as well.

I am going to preface the next thought with I am not Catholic, however, it is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Typically, if one is Catholic, they give something up for Lent, for 40 days they sacrifice something they love. At least this was my understanding, until I asked my BBFF about it, going the route of what are you giving up. He said nothing, he hadn’t practiced this in years, I said I was very disappointed as he was my go to Catholic. This was his response:

“Actually, giving up stuff for Lent has been out of favor for a decade or so. It is the THOUGHT behind the giving up, namely sacrificing to prepare yourself for the Death of Jesus, that is important. While giving up is not bad, doing a more “positive” sacrifice is better.”

I thought this was a perfect response and gave me a better understanding of his belief system. Yes even after all of these years I can still learn something about my BBFF. You see we never stop learning about others, there is always something new to learn, something to discover.

So, here is my challenge to you, go out and have an actual conversation with someone, face to face, voice to voice. Learn something about someone you have known for years. Please report back.