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We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.
-- Stevie Wonder
 

 

Thursday, February 8, 1996

A great time to be alive!

This is a great time to be alive. Every one of us is fortunate to be witnessing this particular time in human history. As the 20th century draws to a close, and as we prepare to enter a new millenium, revolutionary changes promise to dramatically alter our world.

The enabling force behind all this change is technology -- computer and communication technology in particular. But the technology is just a tool. It would mean nothing without the clever and innovative humans who are constantly devising new ways to use it.

Think for a moment about this column you’re reading. I’m composing it in my home in Austin, Texas. In a few minutes, I’ll punch a few buttons and send my words onto a computer disk in San Francisco, California. The whole process will take maybe 15 seconds. At that time, this column will be instantly available to millions of people all around the world, from Mexico to Iceland, from South Africa to Korea.

And we’re just getting started. The Internet in its present form will, in 2 or 3 years, look quaint and hopelessly crude compared to what will be available then. The pace of change is so fast as to be startling. It’s as if the floodgates have been opened on innovation.

These are certainly confusing times. Any revolutionary change is tumultuous and chaotic. But I have no doubt that we are changing for the better. Our technology, which for a long time has tended to separate and isolate us, is starting to bring us back together. Concept and ideas travel around the world in seconds, where they are studied and improved upon by others, who in turn put their spin on the concepts and send them back out to the world.

Be thankful that you are alive today. Unlimited opportunities await you. Now go out and make the most of them!

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.