HOW INCREASE IN RESOURCES ADDED TO COMPLEXITIES IN OUR LIVES AS TIME PASSED...

It is quite clearly known to all of us that availability of resources was quite less until a few decades ago. There were no mobile phones, not even landline phones, lesser connectivity of roads, lesser options of transport, lesser options of entertainment, lesser options of earning money and lesser salaries as well, as compared to everything in today's era. But, along with a lot of 'less' in those times, the stress was less too, and the amount of pressure on people was considerably less as well. Nowadays, we have been blessed with uncountable resources to uplift our lifestyles and yet the level of contentment seems to be decreasing while the graph of mental pressure seems to be increasing, leading to a variety of health issues and complexities in the lives of people. It all happened over a few decades, especially in the last three decades, with advent of technology and introduction of tons of new elements in our lives.

Until late 90's, high-end automobiles and phones and branded clothes and related luxury items were not common, some being not available at all. Most of the parents would commute with the help of scooters and bikes to their work or for other personal day-to-day tasks while children/youngsters would use bicycles or public transport such as three-wheelers and buses to go to schools or colleges. A glass of sugarcane juice on the way back home would feel like the best refreshment, broken chains of bicycles would feel like just another small problem, completion of homework and getting free would mean playing outdoor or indoor games or helping out mom at home or devoting time to other such extra-curricular activities which would teach something worth remembering for lifetime. Lesser time would be spent in front of TV while more time would be spent with family and friends. A single TV channel would cater to the interests of all age-groups showing news, programs, cartoons, movies, etc at dedicated time slots. With acute shortage of stress-busters as compared to today's era, stress was still on the lesser side while happiness was relatively easy to find.

Now, there are ample number of resources for almost every task and life has become a bed of roses with easy availability of uncountable products. People prefer to travel by their own cars for the smallest of work, students prefer to go to their schools or colleges by their own vehicles which are either popular bikes or luxurious cars, purchasing items from drive-thru or sitting at lavish restaurants and having food is the modern-day refreshment preference, even cycles have gears now and cost at least 10 times more than the ones available a couple of decades ago, even studies are done digitally and more time is dedicated towards high-end smartphones and smart televisions, these televisions have thousands of channels and viewers still demand for more variety of channels, internet has taken over the traditional mode of movies and web-series have made the competition even more intense, shopping malls and cinemas and fitness-centers provide further options for entertainment and fitness, and while having all of this, it is still difficult for people around the globe to explore and trace happiness and keep the stress away. UNBELIEVABLE!

The level of contentment in life has reduced by leaps and bounds with increase in resources, because the expectations have grown far more than they should have been. For any kind of requirement in life, there are bundles of alternatives creating confusion which one to choose. Once chosen, there are bundles of reasons again, to regret why the other one was not chosen. Although this sounds funny too, however, it is more distressing and unfortunate. Technology has transformed the world into a fast-paced existence, forcing everyone to become a part of it without giving them time to rethink whether they could opt for something else as well or not. The advantages of technological enhancements can't be overlooked of course, but just like every rose has its thorn, the drawbacks are quite prominent as well and have impacted the world on a very large scale.

With passage of time, along with being a blessing in a lot of ways, excess of resources has also complicated the lives of people, a fact which cannot be denied. It would have been better, had everyone focused on essentials and basic necessities instead of following the never-ending fantasies and desires, just like the current lifestyle adopted in the ongoing situation of corona-virus pandemic. Even if lavish desires are followed and achieved, there should be a controlled emotion for this chase which should prohibit unnecessary lust for more luxuries.

A lot of time has passed, but a lot is yet to come; let's mend the ways we expect and desire, let's focus more on basic necessities of life, let's reduce wastage of essentials, let's utilize the abundant resources in a more restricted manner according to their need, let's reduce complications in life, let's increase contentment and happiness around us, and let's live-up to the fullest with smile not stress and with satisfaction not resentment.