An enriched life vs. a shallow life.

       A shallow life is the sort of story a person writes for themselves that is to me is all wrong and messed up. A shallow life is a life of satisfying one's own needs for pleasure and greed. A person might not have much but they will order the most expensive dinner, drink all the alcohol that they can afford at the moment. A person who leads a shallow life is consumed by consumption, they must spend money on something so that they feel good about themselves. People who lead a shallow life think nothing of racking up debt, borrowing money from others, or lack any form of pride and will just beg for money from strangers. Another characteristic of a person who leads a shallow life is fact that such people like to waste time by doing nothing creative by sitting in front of the TV watching movies or sports. Also another thing about shallow people is that they tend to avoid religion, thus they might lack any sense, or desire for direction for their lives. Then again they are happy with their directionless life. These shallow people waste not only time but the potential of what could have been with their lives.

An enriched life on the other hand is led by the virtuous. They see the value in saving money, and working hard. A person who leads enriched life appreciates the arts, plays, performances put on by local performers. A person who leads an enriched life finds value to tending to their homes whether it is mowing the lawn or maintaining the house somehow. These people also lead orderly lives and have religion in their lives, they seek to do good by putting the needs of others above their own. A enriched person values the small things in life such as the time spent with family by taking them out on family outings on the weekends by going to the beach or state/national parks. Other characteristics of an enriched life might include an interest in increasing ones savings and investments. Or taking an interest in political or world affairs that might have ripple effects that might somehow shape their lives. People who lead rich lives have goals, they want to elevate themselves above where they are. These are the sort of people who want better for themselves and who are not happy with the same old same old.

There's a difference in the way a shallow person holds a conversation and the way a person leads an enriched life holds a conversation. A shallow person talks mindlessly about nothing, and or about nothing of importance. A person who leads enriched life holds a conversation of value. When they speak they speak with words of value they say things that are worth listening to. Cell phones are part of the problem in part because of their ease of use which people take advantage of and abuse to chatter endlessly about nothing.

Modern technology is wonderful in that it allows us to share knowledge and everyone is able to collaborate on different ideas. Further technology allows for increased advances in all parts of society thus continuing to elevate the human race. But at the same time advances in technology also have the adverse effect of allowing people to remain shallow and being even more so. Though the counter to this technology can also allow for greater human enrichment thus advancing the human race. An example of how shallow technology can allow people to be is the online social network. Social network use to be a term associated with the group of people that a person was affiliated with. Now the term refers to online communities where people can instant chat and share pictures with each other and even gast! Up date their status. What value do these people add to the overall conversation of life? What value is there to people being online in the online social networks? When people socialize in person with their social networks at least they are interacting with others in a personal way, and the families could even get involved when families of the social network gather with their families. Are not extended families a form of a social network? The extend family is the basis for all other social networks. What might be good about technology for human enrichment is the fact the ease to which knowledge can be share with others. So basically we have the internet which might mean the place where the collective knowledge of the human race is stored rather the pipe line on which we visit the websites for various reasons. The more people know the more educated people will be and be better prepared to make prudent choices.

I think inside each of us there's a desire to enrich their lives, but by enriching our lives we grow deeper as people. By that I mean that we add valued substance to our lives. Rather than grow and live a story that is quickly forgotten when we pass from this life and when enrich ourselves we build and grow stories that people who know will tell others after we have passed. Thus the greater contribution to society the better chance that we will be remembered with infamy, or with fame and fondness.

Eric............