The sun sets on another day…
Each day, the sun rises, and the sun sets. So many people walk through life and don’t see how they fit in this winding melee called life, nor the good,or bad they can do. I have a friend, more like a daughter, who is going through a rough time right now. I wish I could help, but it takes two people to engage: One to help, and one to want to be helped. there is no way someone can be helped unless they reach out. (See this post.)
We all go through rough times, but isn’t it how we handle those rough times that defines who we are? Isn’t it the sum of all the things we go through that makes us a better person? As I talked to a few people today we talked about children, how they have grown up, and our new generation that are often entitled, and unaware of the struggles of the older generations. They should use generational defeats to avoid their own, but as with many generations, feel they are unique.
Although I agree, this generation is unique, the problems they face are not. I would hate to think we cannot learn from our past to make our future better, our lives better and our days better as a whole. In fact, perhaps those of us that didn’t grow up half bad should consider putting our children in similar positions, where they don’t grow up half bad. I find myself in difficult territory often when we consider that children today have more and more than we ever did, and in the process, want for less, still want more, and end up in situations we could not have gotten into as easily, why, well, in my opinion, we were too busy having to work, fight and make things happen and not given our lives on a silver platter.
Now, don’t think of me as a snob, but instead consider, when we bought our first car we had to work hard for it, and it had value. (That word value is important) When we got our paycheck we had to learn to balance our money, and when we got into college, we had to work to make it happen. In the end we give our children unreasonable expectations on value, and in the future how will the new generation be able to cope if their parents do not understand value and instead squander what they have, and end up in interesting places in life. Worse, how will this new generation react when they have all they ever wanted and a 200 thousand dollar degree only to find there is not job for them.
In my rather guarded heart, I know that it was better to have to learn to fight so when sometimes you fail, have to take a step back, face a loss, a lost job, or a severe heartbreak, that we can rise above and find a way to be more than we were because we know the world isn’t handed to us on a silver platter, but it is a world we make, both good and bad.
So, as the sun sets on another day, consider how we approach life, how the next generation will fare, and how we should teach them every day to hold on to the sunrises and sunsets of their lives, and just make them better. If I sound like a broken record on things like this it is because I love my children and see a way for things to be better for them, and it is not “buying them a life” or “telling them lies.” but instead is showing them that love, honor, trust, and passion are more than just words. If I sound like a broken record on things like this….ooops.
Sleep sweet, love life, and live every day with the passion it deserves…