Broken Promises

I know there are a lot of people complaining about how we live our lives today with social media, how we're quickly offended by the smallest things or how we take things for granted.

Our lives have changed a lot compared to generations past. We live in a time when our lives can become saturated with work but with the technology that we have nowadays we also have a ton of free time.

It's natural that we would want to maximize our time with the most fun, with the best friends, work at the best jobs and use our time as efficiently as possible. There's nothing wrong with this up to a certain point. By maximizing our pleasure and limiting the unpleasant we tend to break some promises along the way.

We have become a generation where we can't trust each other because everyone is trying to find the best possible friends, events, jobs etc. Our own broken promises are ruining us.

How often do you organize events or get asked to go to something only to cancel it because there's something better or at least something higher up on your priority list? Have others done the same thing to you? I'm sure this has happened to tons of people. I believe this is the reason why we constantly have people calling or messaging us last minute confirming whether the event is still happening or if you're still going to it.

We've become afraid that our friends and family will cancel out on their promises to attend or do things. How is this a healthy way to continue a relationship?

I think in this day in age it's very rare to meet people that will just show up and do something when they're asked to. We've gotten to a stage when we always need things in writing or recorded as a backup in case someone screws with us.

Social media is probably the worse for this. You have all these stranger "friends" that claim they'll go and do things online but never show up.

When I see older movies or hear old stories about deals and friends helping friends, it seemed like genuine friendships and trustworthy people. In those past generations, they wouldn't bat an eye if a deal was reached with a simple conversation and a handshake.

It's really sad that those days are numbered. I would really like to live in a simple naive society like this. When someone promised they'd do something they'd do it.

I'm sure today we still have that mentality that we want to fulfill our promises; however, we tend to pack our days with so much stuff and our schedules become jumbled and lost.

After being burned by so many broken promises it's understandable that we're a little weary when people make nice offers to help us. If we become apprehensive we're more likely to teach the next generation to be just the same and the cycle will get worse.

Ultimately, I think there are two simple things that we should do to make our society a little more livable.

First, we should try to keep promises as best we can. I know this might sound simple but for some it's not. Try not to overwhelm our own schedules by trying to do too much at once. Be decent and not flake on people because something better comes along the way.

Second, maybe we have to try to keep believing in others so we can be examples for the next generation. I know this is oversimplifying things but sometimes we can't tell the next generation that they can't trust others to help. I know there are bad people out there but I think it's bad that we live in fear. Maybe it's time we start looking for the good in people and trust that they are good.