Have you seen the TV program ‘The Greatest Expectation’? The show aired as a special program to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. During the program, three entertainers submitted their average weekly schedules and the show organizers estimated, based on their work schedules, how much time they actually get to spend with their families. One entertainer was told based on their current schedule, they would get to spend six months with their family, while another was told three months, and finally the other was told one month. Viewers and the entertainers themselves were surprised to learn these numbers when our average life span is 85 years for a woman and 78 for a man. What do you think about this? What is your weekly schedule like? How often do you talk to your family, or even spend time with them? According to The National Statistics Office, the average Korean adult over 20 years of age spends 3 hours and 13 minutes a week with their family. Students spend 59 minutes a week with
family while the elderly spend on average 3 hours and 35 minutes a week with their families. However, these hours submitted, spending time with one’s family included watching TV and having lunch with family, but how much of it was actually spent communicating? The Herald Business conducted surveys regarding the daily conversation time amongst family members. 29% of those surveyed said they communicate with their family 10 to 30 minutes a week while 25% of those surveyed reported communicating with their families just 10 minutes a week. Moreover, only 18% said they talked to their family over an hour per week. As you can see from these statistics, communication amongst family members is severely lacking. What is more surprising is that the daily average time using smart phones is 219 minutes, according to Nielsen Korea. What this means is that the time we spend looking at our smart phones is longer than the time we spend looking at the faces of our family members. This is serious problem. We all have some sort of family, but the statistics prove that we take them for granted.

You have to remember that the family is salient and they will not be with you forever. It is too late to notice time with family is precious, after they have passed.   Why don’t people spend time with their family? Most people say they do not have enough time to spend with their family, but yet they still enjoy playing games, and watching movies. They delay spending time with their family thinking ‘I am very busy. Let’s keep in touch’. Of course, you can defer these opportunities, but there is one thing you have to remember: Time waits for no one. As time goes by, the amount you have available to spend with family decreases. You have to enjoy your time with your family. It doesn’t mean you have to travel with them, or even visit their house every day, but you can share good times with them. You can go shopping with your mom, or if you are extremely busy, you can call your parents every day and speak to them for 10 minutes. If you don’t make these changes soon, one day you may be forced to regret the time you missed out on. Don’t let that happen to you.