I hope I Never Become an Angry Old Man! - A Tribute To Young People and Their Scary, But Bright Future.

I keep hoping that I do not wake up one morning and find out that I have turned into the old grumpy dude. You know that guy who is suicidally convinced that young people have it all wrong, and that they are ruining their lives, being mind controlled by the media and entertainers, wasting their youth on drugs and alcohol, ruthlessly ravaging the planet (and each other), and are destined for destruction followed by an eternity in the flaming pit.

My job description, as grumpy old dude, would be to energetically preach to them at every opportunity, letting them know in no uncertain terms, that I can see their doomed future clearly and then I would be compelled to use my remaining energy to warn them, and to in fact save them, from the treacherous path on which they naively travel. Even, and sometimes especially, if it is against their will.

Every day I wake up and find that I am not this guy, I feel really happy. I love young people. I think that they are amazing, brilliant, wonderful and strong. They are my favorite type of people and I think that they are doing just fine. In fact with all of the added pressures, distractions and challenges they face daily, I think that they are doing way better than my generation did or ever could.

See, we gave them a world that is filled with obstacles, paradoxes, broken promises, contradictions and obvious wrongs, and then we continually tell them to figure it out, but do it on our terms, not theirs. And they, like young people have always done, tell us to kiss their asses and let them take their own shot at it because we obviously didn't know what the Hell to do or we would have solved the problems, when we had the energy to do and not just talk.

I could not be more proud or in awe of them. Nor could I be more sure that they will be just fine.

So, every day that I wake up and I am not that grumpy old dude, I sit back and watch them stumble often, but surely make their way through this smog flavored Pea Soup into which, we brought them. And I remain prepared to help if and when contacted by them, for my opinion or other resources. And with all things considered, I will not forget to remain humble and never forget to thank them and God, that I was even asked.

From my point of view, if we wanted young people to rely on our wisdom and not their own, we should have built it into their thinking. If it is not there, it is because WE did not take the required time to get them to see the value in it. In order to get them to see the value in it, we have to create a relationship with them where they see the value in US and what we are saying. The foundation for creating this relationship, where we are relevant to young people, is caring. Caring starts and continues based on our commitment to give them love unconditionally. Giving them love unconditionally requires our putting aside our desires to be right, our fears of being embarrassed by their actions or behaviors, our stopping the projection of our own frustrations onto them because we feel inadequate or guilty about the decisions we made in our own lives, and finally it requires us to live in the moment and to realize that our individual realities are specific to each of us only and may have nothing to do with any young person's thoughts, agendas or future potential.

Personally though. i think grumpy old men worry too much. Each generation is built for the time that they live in, armed with the tools and attitudes to meet the challenges and even thrive in that time. This always was and will always be the case. And, yes it is our obligation to give young people as much advice and wisdom as we can muster, but we need to do this while realizing that their needing to make their own way is - human. So if we get rebuffed, it may just be because we really have no idea what we are talking about or our advice isn't as valuable or relevant as we think. And we also need to accept that since so often, we are not prepared to take our own advice, maybe they aren't either.

We should remember, the historical record shows that being human means; you fall – but you then get back up and keep moving. Progress occurs in stops and starts and only when you look back can you truly judge what happened.

So, I woke up this morning and wanted to write this tribute to young people and to their scary, but bright future. I wish I was one of you. But in the meantime, I will be content with not being the grumpy old dude.

Reminder to my generation: We can see the type of trees we planted by the fruit laying on the ground beneath those trees. If we see oranges everywhere and we wanted apples, getting angry with the oranges only deflects from the fact that WE planted, fertilized and watered orange trees. No matter how much we say we want apples, we can only get them if we plant and nurture apple trees. This is a demonstration of our power and ability to influence our future and our role in the present. It’s pretty simple I think. You want apples, plant 'em. Also, before we throw out all those oranges, remember, yes, they may not be the firm delicious apples that we dreamed of enjoying, but oranges have their benefits too. Here are a few:
Oranges are the beautiful color of the Sun.
Oranges can suppress appetite for four hours after eating. Oranges are excellent for dieters.
Oranges help to activate the body's own detox process and even the skin and zest of this fruit contain anti-oxidants which transport oxygen around the body and protect the skin from free radicals which cause signs of aging. In other words, oranges can help to keep the wrinkles away.
Oranges contain a natural cancer fighting chemical that gives some protection from cancers of the mouth, lung, breast, stomach, skin and colon.
Oranges are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
Oranges help to prevent birth defects and protects the heart.
One orange helps to keep the fluid levels within the body in proper balance.
Oranges help to prevent age related illnesses.
Oranges help to reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Oranges help with wound healing and resistance to disease.
Oranges help to protect the cells.
And the best part is that oranges are all over the place.

A not too grumpy David Allen Jones