5 things our ancestors did better than us

Society has definitely lost most of its manners since a couple of centuries ago. In those days, people didn't leave each other's invitations unanswered, couldn't even expect their letters to be ignored and never forgot to write a thank you note for a gift or a favor.

Though many etiquette rules from the past look ridiculous and redundant today, we could learn the basics of politeness from people who lived in the 19th century.

More information leads to less knowledge – today, we can find any information we want, which makes it harder for us to focus on anything. Our ancestors valued every opportunity to learn something new and thoroughly studied every book they had access to.

Many years ago, people ate only as much as they needed. In many cultures, breakfast didn't even exist as a separate meal until the 19th century. Our ancestors didn't drink soda, eat candy bars, chips or burgers, but they definitely felt better. In the US, obesity became a serious problem only after the 1970s.

Since we've discovered the low cost of plastic, we started using it for everything, ignoring the harmful effects it has on the environment. Until not so long ago, we didn't even try to save water, recycle or dispose of old batteries the right way.

What we could learn from our ancestors is to be content with less. They lived without producing much waste, reused things and got along without many things we now buy just for fun. They respected nature and didn't take more than they actually needed.

Every year, we have more and more opportunities. We buy fancier things, we visit new places, we can listen to any music we want and watch hundreds of new movies.

People who lived many years ago didn't have that much and faced a lot of tough problems, but still they managed to be happy and feel content. They knew how to enjoy life as it is, and that's perhaps the main thing we should learn from them.