We were born in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
We grew up in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.We studied in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
We were dating in the 70’s and 80’s.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70’s and 80’s.
We ventured into the 80’s and 90’s.
We stabilized in the 2000’s.
We got wiser in the 2010’s.
And we are cruising through the 2020’s.
Turns out we've lived through eight different decades, two different centuries, and two different millennia.
Here’s the part where it really picks up speed and starts to illustrate what we’ve seen and what we’ve been through, something that future generations won’t experience and probably have a tough time even imagining.
We once relied on operators for long-distance calls, lined up at phone booths, and fed coins into pay phones. Today, we make video calls across the globe, watch YouTube instead of slides, stream music instead of playing vinyl, and send messages by email or WhatsApp instead of handwritten letters.
And if that wasn’t enough for our poor old brains to handle, it gets even more mind-blowing:
We’ve gone from live sporting events on the radio, to black and white TV, and then to HD TV. We went to Blockbuster for our video movies, and now we watch Netflix. We got to know the first computers, punch cards, diskettes, and now we have gigabytes and megabytes. From manual typewriters to electric, then to keyboards. Documents on paper stored in filing cabinets, to digital copies stored in something called “the cloud,” and it’s all right there in our cell phones or iPads.
Who would have thought that we’d be able to talk on our wristwatch like Dick Tracy did in the comics not so many years ago? That was real science fiction; now it’s commonplace. And handheld phones that not only make phone calls but take photographs and send and receive text messages, emails and personal files.
We
dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, H1N1 flu and COVID-19.
We rode roller skates, tricycles, bicycles, skateboards, mopeds, gasoline or diesel cars, and now we ride hybrids or 100% electric vehicles, cars, trucks, and even scooters. And then witnessing men boarding a spacecraft, rocketing to the moon. and then, walking on the moon!
That yes, we’ve been through a lot but what a great life we've had! We could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the 50’s, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. We're kind of a “yah-seen-it-all” generation.
We have literally lived through and witnessed more than any other generation in every dimension of life. It is our generation that has literally adapted to change.
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation. And we have learned that time does not stop. In fact, it seems to accelerate.
Suddenly, it’s already six in the afternoon. Where did the week go? And how can it be Friday already? Wait, it’s January? And 2026? Blink, and 50, 60, and 70 years have passed.”
We rode roller skates, tricycles, bicycles, skateboards, mopeds, gasoline or diesel cars, and now we ride hybrids or 100% electric vehicles, cars, trucks, and even scooters. And then witnessing men boarding a spacecraft, rocketing to the moon. and then, walking on the moon!
That yes, we’ve been through a lot but what a great life we've had! We could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the 50’s, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. We're kind of a “yah-seen-it-all” generation.
We have literally lived through and witnessed more than any other generation in every dimension of life. It is our generation that has literally adapted to change.
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation. And we have learned that time does not stop. In fact, it seems to accelerate.
Suddenly, it’s already six in the afternoon. Where did the week go? And how can it be Friday already? Wait, it’s January? And 2026? Blink, and 50, 60, and 70 years have passed.”
So,
what can we take away from all of this? Well, maybe it’s this: don’t stop doing
something you like because of a lack of time. That time, unfortunately, never
returns…
As Kenny Chesney sang, “Don’t blink, life goes faster than you think!"
As Kenny Chesney sang, “Don’t blink, life goes faster than you think!"
