We have a long way to go until we successfully conquer the unsettling and lethal reality of terrorism by way of deciphering and hampering the underlying ideology. I refuse to believe that it has much to do with religion.
We have an even farther trek ahead of us until we reach a world free from armed conflicts, hunger and without an environment that gulps for unpolluted air and thirsts for clean water.
These issues require immediate attention but they have to be approached with utmost precision. We cannot afford another Sharm El-Sheikh, we cannot afford another Yugoslavia or Rwanda.
We cannot afford larger holes in the ozone layer or rising sea levels. Utmost precision requires careful study and absence of hasty, reactionary actions; it is like building a house out of a deck of cards; one faulty move and all the previous efforts go to waste.
I believe there is an increasing sense of urgency ruling our world. Maybe it is a sign of desperation, the urgency reflecting the gravity of the state of the world, but there is also a possibility that the urgency is a result of our lack of patience. This lack of patience seems to be deeply embedded in our way of life.
People-watching is fascinating. I rarely miss a chance to observe those who happen to pass my line of vision. This, I would like to call it hobby, is particularly enjoyable when traveling, something which I am fortunate to do with ever-increasing frequency. It never ceases to fascinate me how diverse humankind is.
The colorful variation of our species makes it a lot more interesting to look at. Conformity is not only a danger to a healthy society, it is also terribly boring.
If we all looked alike, it would not only spoil our diverse societies, it would also ruin much of the fun in travel.
Appearance and posture is a form of marketing; it says something about the person, regardless of whether they have consciously paid attention to their dress or not.
Whenever my curiosity lets my eyes roam freely at airports or on city streets, there is one thing I see everywhere. People are in a hurry. Everywhere. It is understandable at airports, when every now and then someone elbows his way through the line at the security check or stampedes past the duty free. He has a flight to catch.
Another example is someone sprinting down the street in order to prevent a parking attendant from sticking a ticket onto his shiny car. But what for all the others? What is it we are so frantically running around to save time for?
It has become something of an unchallenged truth that saving time is desirable. Most of us are rushing what we do for the sake of saving time.
Even when we are not sure where we are going, we are in a hurry. I often wonder if we are saving time or actually just spending our moments. Another question we should ask ourselves is what we plan to do with all the time we supposedly save in our haste.
In our eagerness to not miss out on anything, we run the risk to miss out on what is closest and therefore, most important.
To how many people has it occurred that it is life itself we are chasing? The irony is that life happens every moment, it happens every second of every day, whether we are aware of it or not. To run means that we miss those moments. A marathon with no clear direction and without a goal, other than that of “saving time”, will only exhaust us. It will not lead us anywhere.
It is acutely obvious that much effort is needed to maintain and improve the world we live in, but action without clear intentions has little purpose and if we do not know even where we are going, then running will not be of much use.
What would happen if it went all quiet for a while, if we allowed ourselves time to think and breathe and look around? Maybe it would — contrary to our fears — show us that much of what we have and do is good. What if we view our world a little bit more optimistically, what if tomorrow is not the end of the world, what if we still have some time? What then would we do? Maybe we would find the serenity to evaluate what we are doing and where we would like to go.
Where do we want our future to take us? It is in our hands and in no one else’s. We have the power if we want it and it is a matter of seizing the opportunities that are presented to us every single day. However, when we are in a rush we may very well not see the possibilities we have.
A friend once told me that there are two questions you must ask yourself: “Where am I?” and “What time is it?” There is only one correct answer to each: “I am right here” and “It is right now”.
Before taking another step or leap, let us decide on a direction. Whether running a marathon without a goal, is tiring and rather pointless. In addition, it is also rather tedious.
