Notes to Teens and Young Adults

Desires, Frustrations, Joys, Sorrows, Duties, Expectations, Dreams, and Hopes, all crash nonchalantly into one another, making this ever-changing kaleidoscopic life of teenage and young adulthood rather difficult. No one ever says it’s easy because no matter the age past twelve, we know for sure that it’s not. We have been there, done that, and really don’t want to do it again. However, despite, worrisome moments of attempting to ease quietly into this new age, you move, almost unnoticed, into this new found awareness of “independent” self. With this transition, it is imperative to take on essential actions to make sense out of what sometimes seems to make no sense at all…to implement some crucial things to save the life that God has planned for you.

“TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE”

William Shakespeare

You have to search for the real you, and know, with certainty, who you are. This is a mandatory task if you want to survive this world without too much trauma and drama. If you are one who must yield to peer pressure…must follow the crowd…must exhibit a timidity that allows abuse…must fit in… and must ignore what you know you really want, then HEARTACHE and FAILURE stand unflinchingly at your beck and call as you passively yield to FRAGILITY. Young people, the lesson here is simple. You alone must decide to let no one and nothing rob you of the truth that resides in your heart…those things that you stand for…those things that you want more than anything…those future moments that you wouldn’t trade for the whole wide world…that thing that had you to say, “I want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a welder, a fireman, a nurse or a million other different dreams spilling from the lips of babes.

TAKE YOUR TIME WITH LIFE

Refuse to rush your life away, trying to experience things far too soon…things that you probably are not ready for at this youthful time. This is not to say you should not enjoy your youth. …far from it. Take the world by storm, but always with some degree of common sense. Let the voice of consciousness in your head be your guide. It will tell you the truth. …that indulging in things that you know are harmful is foolish…that fire burns. It will advise you that playing too hard and throwing caution to the wind will more than likely end badly. It will admonish you that harming yourself to get back at others will always miss its mark, and it will counsel you that looking back at the mistakes of others will create no winners, offer no prizes, and yield no bounty. Realize that this is your life, your chance to shine in God’s grace; honor the value of this gift He has given, and be patient with yourself and in your search for divine meaning.

KNOW THAT LOVE IS PATIENT.

So now, at your age, you say life is difficult because there are other things that you want. You need LOVE. Well, it awaits you, but you must take the right road… the one less traveled. Unfortunately, the passageway demands, without question, something that you are not used to …PATIENCE. You live in the microwave generation…the quick fix…an instantaneous fulfillment of gratification. Well, LOVE IS PATIENT. It waits. Therefore the dichotomy of these two ideas cannot merge…will not yield to each other. The fast track, party time, jump in the bed on the first date or so, defies the very act of LOVE. The fast tract causes confusion between the definitions of real love, infatuation, and lust. Both lust and infatuation are powerful emotions that, for a moment in time, can make the heart soar and stomach butterflies take flight; however, both wear a mask and both disguise stability and commitment. On the other hand, Love is vigilant and protective. With true love, there is a necessity to know the partner, realize the strengths, the weaknesses, understand the flaws, learn if there will be respect, communication, compromise, commitment (in both sickness and health), trust, and perseverance. This knowledge, which leads to LOVE, takes time and a real search for the right person…the soul mate that only God puts together. Defying this path and taking the other seems most often to lead to disappointment, cruelty, loneliness, fear, tears, unprepared pregnancies, and sometimes even deadly or crippling diseases. It leads to a place where Love, for some, refuses to make even the briefest appearance. Instead this path is gorged with the personification of SADNESS, HELPLESSNESS, and REJECTION.

“WHAT HAPPENS TO A DREAM DEFERRED?”

Langston Hughes

In our youth, there is so much the feeling that anything can be accomplished. …A mountain never too high, an ocean’s floor never too deep, a winding road never too challenging, and a dare never too risky for rejection. However, somewhere in between here and there some dreams are lost, misplaced, put aside for some illusion, and the dream is deferred. Langston Hughes, says that at some point that dream may “stink like rotten meat…may crust over like a sugary sweet.” In any event, the dream is probably forever and unfortunately, in absentia.

“LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING”

Proverbs 3: 5

This kind of defeat does not have to happen, but to keep it at bay there must be strength, commitment, dedication, motivation, and a desire to keep in touch with all that is important to the heart inside of you. For the Christian, there must be a faith and trust in God that knows He will carry you, and that His promises are true. We must believe Him. The mantra must be that “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.”

Never is this thing called growing up easy. Truly, it is difficult, and all of us are bound to make mistakes. The comfort, however, is to know that there is always help…that Christ allows us to lean on Him. He is the one who will direct us before we lose our way, shield us when times are difficult, and sustain us when life’s journey is too hard. He is the one who covers us with His feathers when we need protection even from ourselves.

As we peer and poke around this globe on which we live, it’s easy to see the multiplicity of mistakes that we make, the many errors of our ways, our absolute refusal to stand firmly against the evils of our world. We can smoke whatever we want while we dismiss its ability to kill. We can take drugs regardless of the fact that we see the disorientation and devastation of the addict, or we can act with timidity and toss our dreams to the wind at the whim of some bully society. In the error of our ways, we can dismiss our own bad behavior as we hide from those in authority over us, but we cannot hide from God. He is always there willing us to be our best self.

My advice to a positive end is always the same: Maximize your talents with passion and fire while you have a chance. Push toward your dreams and goals in the precious few moments God has given you. Revel in your successes because you deserve them. Most importantly, walk close to God, seek His guidance, study His word, and always be ever ready to find your strength in Him. Be prepared to stand firmly against the wiles of Satan. Do this, and actualize the dreams that God has planned for you even before your birth.