Error of Our Youth
As I come to the completion of my undergraduate business degree, faults of years past are coming to haunt me as well as coming to bite me in the ass. Youth of today are forced upon a slippery slope of a two-headed monster.
The first head of our monster is realized at a young age, when the children of our society begin to reach maturity. This crucial time, years that should be spent in self-discovery and socialization, is spent instead in the pursuit of money. Employment at a young age, despite “building character” and “establishing a good work ethic” cripples young talent in the formative years and saps creative energy when it is needed most. Time spent pursuing money and not pursuing life destroys the beauty and purpose of living at all. What does all this lead to?
“I have no idea what I want to do with my life.”
I know what so many have said in response to this.
“It’s okay, no one knows what they want to do.”
And why, may I ask, is this so?
Because we allow it to be.
The majority of our society consists of enablers. Parents, teachers, politicians, and you and me – we collectively promote these faulty ideals of mobilizing our youths into employment for their good, our good, and the greater good.
* * *
The second head of this monster is a direct result of the first. We work ourselves into such exhaustion that (years later) when it comes time to declare a major in college, we have nothing to make such a decision on. These jobs we’ve worked – 90% of them, anyhow – are worked because “That’s the kind of thing someone your age does”. These jobs are mindless; they are not designed to prepare us for our futures – just for the future. Where does this leave us? It leaves us unprepared for the future, unaware of what untapped interests and talents to utilize, what goals to strive for, and what causes to support.
* * *
So what do I recommend?
Never compromise.
I often say:
“You can have anything you want
if you’re willing to give everything else up.”
We are guardians of the future of the world and the futures of our children and our children to be. We must, as a culture, ’sacrifice’ our lives of financial comfort at a young age in favor of long-term success and happiness. Life as a teenager should be spent learning to maintain low-stress lives of productivity, happiness, and service of one’s fellow man.
I’ll discuss this more at a later date, as I am intending to finally fire up this blog. Recent life changes have made me give some serious thought to what’s coming next – I will go more in depth on this tomorrow. It’s late.
Pete
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