It is a great era ! Opportunities abound for those who are fearless.
“ Your route guidance is now completed” My adopted sister, the GPS in my car had announced and I found that I had arrived after some mindless driving. You do not need to pay loads of money for your car GPS. Google GPS or yahoo GPS is a free app and will ensure you find that restaurant in your destination anywhere in the world. If you are buying a product that has no English words on it, just run google translate camera over it and viola, the ingredients are revealed !
‘ Tick, tick, tick,’ the computerized endodontic locator sounded and I knew I had reached the apex of the root canal that I had attempted to access. Before this, only x rays with the diagnostic file would measure the exact length . Now with the click of a mouse and a sensor, the picture appears on the monitor. No more developing and fixing of films.
In addition to taking great pictures with your handy phone camera, you can now animate your still photos making the clouds drift by, the rivers flow, the waterfalls spill over and so on. It is really a treat for the eyes.
Welcome to the world made by great leaps in technology and communication.
The examples given are not exhaustive. The advances have pervaded almost every field and industry and continuously evolving, it will take two lifetimes to enjoy them all.
Technological advances are giving more comfort and convenience to our lifestyles but for the uninitiated who do not embrace change, it can be a stressful time unless one embrace it like a love one.
Change has been the constant throughout our lives and is unlikely to go away .
Personally, I do concede that I find too much on my plate of change but I would still continue to dip my fingers into this ever enlarging pie.
I remember several years ago when I received from my husband the gift of an iphone followed by an ipad which to most of you are regular items.
Back then, I was actually quite happy with my now defunct nokia phone and a physical book. However with these two products, a whole new world had subsequently opened up that led to functions like banking on the mobile, surfing on the go and free messaging to my heart’s content just to name a few daily activities. These days, I also book good cinema seats, read any novel and shop online, anytime and anywhere.
I believe that there are many more functions but I do not have enough time to explore.
Change is inevitable. It is the present and the future.
I have tried to convince my senior relative to learn the useful functions of the ATM machine and online banking but he still carries wads of cash with him.
I have tried to get my sibling to change his decade old fridge for an environmentally and energy saving one and he finally did. I managed to teach him youtube and HBO and netflix. He says he has found reasons to live longer given all the old movies and songs at his disposal now. His world has become so fascinating.
I have tried to encourage my friend to use the playstation that has many fun genres of dancing as she was too lazy to use the gym. I remembered using Jane Fonda dance laser disc. Now you have Nintendo switch that can guide you with great music and moves that you could follow in your own room to have fun and burn calories.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic — — — Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Change is important. It is the very essence of the human spirit, to innovate, to create and make life better, faster and happier.
Not welcoming it is tantamount to going back to old ways of doing things. Why would you want to do that?
Do you still want to wait in long queues if you can resolve your transaction over the internet?
Do you still want to get something done in hours when you could use a software that allows you to complete your task in a jiffy and at your leisure?These days, workers may work from home if they can produce results.
Do you not want to wallow in silence while your friends are discussing the latest gadget and having loads of fun every day?
Hence, brace for more changes to come.
Robots are a familiar sight in doing butler services in hotels, cleaning spaces on office floors and playing an active role in space, manufacturing, medical field as well as in the military. Robots would be able to serve in industries where the jobs are mundane and repetitive freeing humans for more creative jobs.
Electric vehicles are getting better, driverless vehicles are still being worked on so that they can be totally reliable and totally autonomous. You would be able to just sit back, catch up on your work or take a nap.
Touch commerce is getting more common as more people discover the convenience of online shopping, varieties of products and competitive pricing. This is a huge challenge to the brick and mortar models. Anyone today with a good product, knowledge of bringing it online and marketing it well can reap profits. It can even become a second career to your 9 to 5 job not to mention opening a whole new frontier to your learning and interests.
Just three examples and we are skimming on the surface of many marvelous changes to come. Many are just mind-boggling and these show how innovative human beings have become.
Everyday, I feel the change around me. Getting older throws me a greater challenge but I am determined to ride this wave of transformation and enjoy its perks.
How to embrace change.
Be open minded. Human beings are naturally resistant to unknown territory ( I remember how I rejected the free iphone )Yes, first feel it in my bones, know it is something spectacular to explore and dive into it. These days, when there is a new gadget or idea which I think would be of use, I would adopt it. Dabble in it. Understand it. Then apply it.
Do it. My most recent venture was to learn how to create a wordpress website. Intimidated at first by my younger fellow classmates, I persevered, resitting the class till I understand how the backend of a website works. Creativity is not my forte but I think the course triggered this sleeping part of my gray matter.
To my surprise, I managed to complete my dentist website though it could not be compared to ones done by paid professionals in terms of quality but I have met most of the objectives of a good website. Now, I am trying to learn about SEO, another new terrain for me but I believed that I would be able to optimize it in due time without having to pay for ads.
Be Curious and continue to learn. Like my cats but I believe that I would not be killed if I acquire the knowledge. It is not possible to know about many changes or the latest development in every aspect of our lives but along life’s journey, it helps to get interested in something and learn in depth. Then you will discover the benefits. The more one dip our hands into this change, the more natural it would feel.
Reasons to do so. When they say that these days, there are people who have fallen through the cracks, I believe that it is not just economically but technologically as well. Without embracing change, when we step out of the house, we would become inconvenienced and disadvantaged and feel archaic. With mass migration across borders and people are getting more savvy with the latest developments that enhances their work performance, the competition for jobs would only get keener….as a dentist, I am not spared too even though I have been in practice for more than 30 years.
Increased confidence. In a gathering with friends and colleagues, I no longer feel lost when topics veered towards digital gadgets and useful softwares. I made it a point to let salespeople demonstrate their latest technology whether it is related to dentistry or not. Investing in good gadgets turn out to be a great help in my career. For instance, the digital dental camera is a fantastic marketing tool that provides instant images on the monitor and is very educational to the patients to provide the optimum treatment plan to them.
Gain respect. I feel that I have been able to bridge the gap with my children who are incidentally in the IT business. At 62, I have created my own dental website, learned about photoshop, learned about e-commerce and SEO though I have not exactly figured out how to use the latter to my advantage yet. But keeping in touch with technology usually puts one on par with your kids and your colleagues and friends. There would be common and current topics to talk about. You may even impress your boss!
Wonderful retirement awaits me. Bustling with ideas, I envisage myself being busy with all the latest technology that I have chosen to adopt and hopefully, I can enjoy every waking moment.Second careers would flourish. Now that I have discovered medium and many apps that could help potential writers write better with more ideas and accuracy, it is indeed a going to be great fun.
My assertion: Let’s all embrace change and enjoy our lives!
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