The other day I was driving to Pensacola for a meeting, and I realized I was driving the car with my knee, drinking Starbucks in one hand, looking at the navigation system, talking on the cell phone, starting a podcast and answering an email…all at the same time. I really need some therapy.

When I started selling hotels, I had a car to drive and an AT&T calling card. That was it. We didn’t have cell phones, and the internet was still years away. The term email wasn’t even a word.  The first couple of years I sold hotels, we were using carbon paper so we could have a copy. Most of you don’t even know what carbon paper is, right? We didn’t have spell check and were using Wite-Out on a typewriter if you made a mistake. If the mistake was big enough, you had to retype the whole page. When I look at an old library book, I can’t begin to image how they ever got all the words in the right order and published the books with no typographical errors.

When I traveled and had to call someone, I would find a gas station, get out of the car with my calling card, dial 1400 numbers before being connected, and then have a conversation with the person I was calling. I would then get back in the car and start driving and if you can just imagine, I would actually look out the windshield at where I was going. Can you believe that?

Back then, drinking a cup of coffee while driving was considered multi tasking. Ha.

So, here is the question: has all the technology made our life better or worse? My grandfather Thompson was a farmer outside of Campbell, Missouri, and they did not even have a phone, much less a TV. And you know what, they were happy, at peace, and lived a long life with many good memories of their children and grandchildren.

So, I think technology has its place in our life, and the challenge is to keep it in its place and not let it lead your life. When your child comes up to you and raises their arms for you hold them, technology has no place in that moment. When your older children ask for your advice, technology should be the last thing on your mind.

So, like many inventions, keep it in order, keep it in its place, and keep it out of the important moments. KT