My name is Alexander.
I was Emperor of the world once.
I was granted a wish.
To travel the world for a week.
And see how it had fared since my time.
I was amazed to see how far the world has come.
The roads, the cities, the technology.
So many things to be positive about.
An incredible way of life has been made possible.
But.. I found less enjoyment and happiness than I was used to.
The poor were envious of the city folk.
The city folk were always in a hurry.
They looked unhealthy, unfit and unhappy.
And most importantly, I found so much decay.
No, not of physical things.
But of the human mind.
For I found many wandering without purpose, uninspired.
They had long forgotten the pure joy that came from playing games and from running abound.
They spent more time looking at people on their tiny laptops than actually spending time getting to know the ones around them.
And spent more time watching programs on their televisions than experiencing life.
They worked for the money and spent more time complaining about it than singing it’s praises.
It smelt of decay.
There are so many more people in the world now than there were in my time.
But, it felt like there was only more existence… less living.
Perhaps all this technology has provided too much comfort and ease.
All of a sudden, entertainment sits at our desks right in front of us.
There is no need to seek, to ask.. for the answers are all searchable.
The children seemed more obsessed with the right answers than with the right questions.
And I felt myself look back at my times as a child.
I had so many questions – Does the world end? What does the sea look like? What do people look like outside of Greece?
They drove me and my fellow adventurers to travel and conquer the world.
What is life without those questions after all?
While I was worrying about the state of the world, I also realized that we humans always find a way.
Things are always better than they seem.
And they will only get better.
For there are many who are working hard to make it so.
That said, I am still worried.
For our greatest asset has been our mind.
And in a time of unparalleled comfort, I found myself hoping that the world is reminded that what brings happiness and change is not finding the right answers
But asking questions.. in multitude.
For the day the whole world wakes up without that curiosity and zest for life will be a sad one indeed.
For decay would have won.
And technology’s true purpose would have been lost.
But I have faith.
We will pull through.
The children will show us the way.
As they always do.
By playing games, laughing, caring, loving and asking lots of questions.
I just hope the grown ups have time to stop and look,
And learn.
For death and decay don’t happen when we stop breathing,
but when our curiosity, passion and zest wither away.
A Learning a Day 