What if…
When we say “kids these days”
It doesn’t come with an eyeroll
Or preconceived judgment that this young generation is entitled…
Maybe they are entitled.
Entitled to respect and love and our wisdom shared and support and encouragement.
Just like everyone else. Babies to adults alike.
What if…
When we say “kids these days”
We are referring to their good deeds.
Their kind gesture to a neighbor.
Or friend.
Or stranger.
We are saying, “They sure have a lot of creative and innovative ideas and help our community and world grow and change for the better.”
How about these students who “take on engineering experiment to understand a real-world problem?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/sixth-graders-test-their-robotics-skills-in-mock-ocean-cleanup/2019/12/10/3b747d50-0cc1-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html
Or this kid who gave a TED-Ed talk on his “plan to recycle the unrecyclable?” https://www.ted.com/talks/ashton_cofer_a_plan_to_recycle_the_unrecyclable/transcript?language=en
Or these kids who collect and packed hygiene bags for the homeless? I kinda like these kids.
Care Package Packing
https://www.facebook.com/castrovalleytv/photos/a.234669363271930/3398120480260120/?type=3&theater
When we think about it some more, these young people are actually trying to fix the problems that we (older generations as a collective) have created. We don’t own a TV so I don’t always get a barrage of news updates, but from what I remember, there is always bad news. That’s what “sells” and attracts attention, right? I do also see news articles on social media sites and whatnot, so I’m not complete oblivious to what’s going on. And not to downplay that there are major devastations occurring around the world, but I think we also can’t downplay those who are making a positive impact in our communities today, both young and old.
And sometimes I shy away from wanting to share or even “like” posts or to write posts like this one (eek!) because no matter what someone shares, there’s always going to be someone who has the opposite or different view. I have seen so many times when someone shares a heartwarming story and others come around to show the negative side of things. It’s valid, those opinions and thoughts and even logical reasoning are all valid, but what is hard for me to get over is that those who complain don’t oftentimes have a solution. (And I’m preachin’ to myself here because I have my own complaints about things sometimes, so hang in there with me for a moment.) If you have a complaint/issue/annoyance, and someone offers a (possible) solution, and you have a complaint/issue/annoyance about their (possible) solution, and now everyone’s defensive or mad or hurt or discouraged, what is the next right thing?
And I’m going to say/type something that I don’t often like to hear/read – I don’t have the answers. Some issues are on a larger scale than I can solve but I don’t think that’s what I’m supposed to do. Whether you heard the “next right thing” phrase from Frozen II (2019), Emily P. Freeman’s book and podcast (2017), Elisabeth Elliot’s broadcast where she mentions the poem (1990s?), or the actual poem Ye Nexte Thynge by Eleanor Amerman Sutphen (1897), I think that sounds like a good game plan for whatever you decide to do next – today, this week, this year. We don’t have to save the world (spoiler alert: Jesus came to die on the cross to save us…and yes, there are lots of unanswered questions about pains and hurts, etc. on this side of heaven, I understand that), but we can see how we can best be used to make a positive impact on those around us. It can make a ripple effect that we may never see but if you’ve ever sat and listened to stories from those before us, you know it to be true.
Anyhow, I hadn’t planned to write this post today or that whole bottom portion, ha! but there you have it. Some food for thought, something to reflect on as we start this year…something for me to reflect on…
And I love what Michelle Myers shared today: