52 WEEKS
Week 5— YOUTH
Youth has all the power and none of the power.
They have all the power, because they have the most time, and none of the power, because older people have it.
Time may be priceless, but for now youth is at everyone’s mercy.
One could argue there’s not much they can do about it, either, except wait for their turn.
Yeah, right.
Nobody likes to be told they have to wait their turn, least of all young people.
But if they’re moving forward, whether it’s at school or work, they’re not really “waiting,” are they?
They’re taking action!
What they don’t wanna do is a whole lot of nothing. Dinking around in school. Hanging out all day, every day. That’s just killing time.
And killing time is wasting time. It’s squandering a young person’s most valuable asset.
Full disclosure: When I was young, I wasted a LOT of time. It’s a wonder I’m not 200 years old.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t have any fun or leisure.
Having fun isn’t killing time, any more than eating is killing time.
Unless that’s all we do!
Doing nothing but eating will kill our body, the same as doing nothing but fun or leisure will kill our future.
It just takes a lot longer to kill our future.
We don’t even really notice it…
So, while youth waits to assume their rightful place, they need to make some moves…
Doing research and groundwork, in preparation for what’s to come.
Youth needs to TCB. Take care of business. So if someone asks them, hey what you been up to? What’s going on? They have an answer for ‘em!
Youth needs to be humble and listen to others.
(Why make your own mistakes, when you can learn from someone else’s?)
Let other people make the mistakes!
Youth can just watch… and learn… and quietly feel superior.
Youth needs to go down two different roads: (1) The road of fun and leisure… the joy of being young, and (2) The road of forward progress.
We can’t have one without the other.
Fun is fun (a lot of fun), but then it’s done.
Then it becomes a memory. Then a distant memory. Then a vague sense of “Man I had a lot of fun...” But forward progress, that we get to keep.
It’s not done when it’s done! Forward progress is a gift that keeps on giving.
Have as good a time as you can, but also HAVE THAT BASE. That warm, glowing orb of forward progress, that we guard and protect.
Because that is how we keep the party going.
Unfortunately there’s a problem.
A big one.
In fact, I call it the Tragedy of Youth.
The tragedy is: teenagers have to make the most important, impactful, far-reaching decisions of their lives… 10–15–20 years before they’re at their best decision-making ability!
Most people don’t make their best decisions until they’re 25–40 years old.
Sometimes even 50.
(cough cough)
That’s when we finally figure it out and know the best road to take.
Well, guess what? A 16 year old has to figure it out NOW. They have to see the big picture, and make good decisions NOW. And if they don’t, they might spend the rest of their life paying for it.
The good news is: youth lasts a LOT longer than it used to. Well into our 30’s, maybe even 40's.
Plenty of time for second or even third chances.
Nowadays, we’re all a bunch of Peter Pans… until one day POOF!!!
It’s gone.
Youth says: there’s a lot of things I can’t do, but there’s nothing I’m not capable of. Old age knows what you do best.
Old age also knows youth can eventually dismantle everything old age has ever done. And there’s nothing old age can do about it.
See how it works?
The only defense for older people is to be RIGHT in what they’re doing in the first place.
Nobody wants to fix or “dismantle” something that ain’t broke.
It’s a waste of time.
Young or old, time is always on the side of those who are right.
AFTERTHOUGHT
You ever feel like, as we get older, time seems to be going FASTER?
That’s because a day to someone who is… two days old, for example… is a loooong time. It’s half their life!
But a day to someone who is 90 YEARS OLD is nothing. It’s a drop in the bucket! A 90-year-old eats days for breakfast.
Time seems to be going faster, because every day we live, a day becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of our life.
It’s an optical illusion.