The dominant thought in my mind today is the acknowledgment of a reality I’ve always been fascinated with how stiffed-necked young people can be even to their own detriment. Young people have a way of living so ignorantly confident in the present, without considering it’s implication in the future. They see so clearly where they are (by their standards) and forget tomorrow will come. What blinds young people are weak but very popular variables like sex, kissing, smooching, parties, clubbing, money, clothes, fame, acceptance, cars, health, travel, the opposite sex and the likes. They always forget that somewhere within all of these, destinies are lost and lives utterly destroyed—young people simply forget that actions are never independent. They forget that every action of today is simply the detail of the larger picture of tomorrow. They forget that the choices of today are the very creators of the happiness or the pain and regrets of the years ahead.
It is simply impossible to live today recklessly and simply hope that tomorrow will turn its wheels in your favor. There is always a significant level of positive reasoning and meaningful sacrifice that we must intentionally fill our today with, so that tomorrow can reveal its meaningful prosperity, joy and lasting peace. No one is born of a woman that can discount this great truth of life. Some ladies struggle to attract a husband in their late 30s into their 40s but nobody remembers the days of their rolling with men with sex, money and power as the focus; some can no longer get pregnant in their marriage yet a couple of abortions in their younger days had damaged key organs within their reproductive system; guys cannot coordinate their faculties enough to sustain the kind of resourcefulness that creates productivity, efficiency, and relevance at mid-life because they consumed exergy foolishly at a point in their past; others have accepted the low life of a recluse simply because their generation has left them behind as they neglected to accept responsibility to do the needful when it mattered the most; some are now 40 and simply living the exact opposite of their dreams because while they were always learning, they were never able to come to the knowledge of the truth enough to embrace the necessary mental attitude and spiritual bearing that can lead them to their blessed freedom and ultimate destiny.
Don’t get me wrong, at any age and at any phase of life, regardless of the depth of error, yesterday’s fool possess within him the power to embrace the requirement for today’s wisdom to lead a fresh and new life of hope and transformation. That’s my own story and it is impossible for me to accept that the human spirit, at a stage of error, cannot discern, accept and experience change and newness. But this will not make me worry less about how highly dumb behaviors and choices made perfect sense to me at the time, when in actual fact, I was destroying my life. I was on drugs, was in the cults, wild and crazy, failing so terribly in school doing 7 to 8 carryovers per semester…I ended up spending 12yrs in the university studying a 4yr course. I lived the kind of life that made me deserving of failure and shame. But Providence saved me. Mercy preserved me. And Grace strengthened me—God’s sovereign grace has obviously eliminated all regrets in my life and made my past a tool.
But today, I have friends in jail who ignorantly and naively abused their youth. I have friends in psychiatric homes who foolishly assumed that drug abuse can lead to glory. Some friends are dead and others maimed. If they knew what was at stake when they were “enjoying” their youth, they probably would have been more objective and focused. If I knew better, I obviously would have done better. It’s amazing how some naïve and foolishly assertive young people foolishly maintain a negative attitude that pervades the whole environment whether at home, school or office.
Young people seem to get perverse pleasure from making the rest of the family or colleagues miserable. They taunt their siblings, peers or colleagues incessantly and refuse to do anything elders and even bosses ask of them. They grow old with this attitude and nothing changes—their refusal to take responsibility for their behavior and their constant blaming of others for their own misconduct simply continues. When elders and seniors try to hold them accountable for their behavior, they become irate and indignant—they throw tantrums, speaking mean and hurtful comments. They will even tell you that you care about nobody but yourself—the very thing they practice. They are stubborn, head strong and demanding. They refuse to negotiate: it’s THEIR WAY or NO WAY. They refuse to engage with others, particularly when they feel hurt. Their emotion is their god. They answer complex questions with a simple word; or repeatedly utter “I don’t know” to simple questions with obvious answers. It’s as if they forget that you are the elder, the parent, the boss or the experienced one. In their minds, you both have equal amounts of power and influence.
Strangely, young people are incredibly aware of the standards of fairness and justice but this awareness is terribly one way. Similarly, they find it perfectly in order to interrupt or disturb others but become infuriated when others impose upon them. As far as they are concerned, what is wrong or right is determined by what hurts them, no matter how silly and foolish their actions are. They are totally hypnotized by their feelings so much that it keeps them unforgiving and revengeful with an unusual commitment to settle scores. Most young people always have an excuse for misbehavior; and fault everyone but themselves. To them, elders and bosses are unfair, expect too much, or did not give them enough time and space. I was like this and I can positively understand when a teenager is like this. But it’s a burdensome extremity when young adults in mid-20s or a full blown adult are like this— they will be children in adult bodies of course and that’s not normal. I grief when I see this scenario because I know another failed life, weak future and crashed destiny is in the making. I see that there is room and tolerance energy for teenagers who behave this way, but I’ve also noticed that society and its justice system will judge and deal with adults who refuse to reinvent themselves. I fear. May God help our young people to know the full import of the implications of their today behavior on their tomorrow life? Most importantly, may they know enough to check themselves before they wreck themselves?
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