William Mangieri's Blogs: Culture of Instant Gratification (and a Smashwords Coupon)

Isn’t streaming wonderful – instead of having to be aware of and maintain a schedule, you can see almost anything anytime you want, as often as you want, instead of only in the instant. Or is this not such a good thing?

In the OLD DAYS, making dinner was a complicated and lengthy affair that required discipline and planning. With refrigeration and prepackaged food (I remember thinking of grabbing a burrito at 7-Eleven as instant gratification), and faster cooking technology, that became something you could do on the fly, and now about the only time anyone goes to that kind of effort is for a special occasion -like Thanksgiving dinner. And how many of us have the discipline to pull that off now?

I wonder how people who have not learned patience can learn to slave away at their craft and put in the hours necessary (20,000?) to become good at something? How long will it take them to get tired of trying to excel, instead choosing to move onto being mediocre at something else? The instant celebrity of our internet culture feeds this.

There is no overnight success – except the serendipity I have occasionally experienced, where everything comes together almost by accident and you look brilliant – for that one time, because you don’t have the discipline and practiced skill to be able to duplicate it.

Have we made too many things too easy? There’s something to be said for having to wait for something – it takes patience and discipline to develop patience and discipline.

Just saying…

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My featured work this week is “Dempsey’s Debut” (alien abduction, boxing, gladiators, and big blue praying manti, anyone?) - here’s the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/483438?ref=NoTimeToThink

Use coupon code PC82S to save 67% off the list price at check out on Smashwords (that’s right – only 99-cents!) The coupon is good through September 14^th. Enjoy!

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William Mangieri’s writing (including his latest ePublication “Endangered”) can be found in many places, including: