I've Been Up and Down and Over and Out and I Know One Thing

Health Bread Pizza Toast

Turkey pepperoni and asparagus on 12 Grain Toast

Sometimes I think we ought to invest in life classes or possibly whole schools that teach you about what is most important in life according to our greatest critical thinkers. And starting at a young age too because these big concepts need mulled over for years and mixed in slowly like milk to the roux.  You can't fully learn this stuff but if it's part of your daily intake, maybe you absorb some of it. But staring at 57 years in it's seasoned face, I feel like the things I know could fit on one sheet of paper.  One item I would communicate to kids from the start is that there is life and then there is your life. Life is everything that happens around you but your life is made up of millions of decisions a day.  I would say the trick is to hold the proper balance of the two dimensions in your mind at all times.  Not solely focused on your own life, but allowing too much in of everything else, is not healthy either.  Keep it simple.  Maintain your relationship with self but don't acknowledge it too much. Try to give your time and energy to others but like on a plane, put your own oxygen mask on first.  Harmonize your chi and learn to suffer gracefully.

They say we're all looking for more meaning in life.  I do meet people that will allow their guard to come down here and there but overall, I wish I saw that yearning more often in the eyes of strangers.  Maybe we all hold those cards pretty close to our chest.  I'm locked up tighter than a mason jar myself.  I feel seriously invaded when someone simply asks me my name at work. That's how open I am.  I tend to trust these new younger people though.  I study them, see how they are viewing the current world. I figure they will live differently, because how could they not?  In just one generation, kids experience their days a far cry from ours.  They don't have the line drawn for them leading to marriage, buying a house, raising multiple children, building a retirement fund.  That line not only existed for us but was constantly reinforced at home, talked about in school, all over the television, media, and through books.  God was there for us too, in school, at home, and in church.  Maybe it was someone else's definition of God but I could warm my life by their beliefs and decide for myself later.  These were people I loved and trusted.  That's all changed for kids now. They are not being taught about any higher powers other then themselves.  Sex is nothing of value or meaning.  Their body is not sacred.  The world is not a mystery.  There are a lot of negatives but also many new unique opportunities for them to go beyond our shortcomings without all these walls up.

I've stayed pretty clear of the norm all my life but have definitely fell prey to it's manipulation in lots of other ways.  Just because I didn't participate in the advertised American dream, doesn't mean I didn't believe it could come true had I decided to chase it.  I liked knowing it was out there.  What do our youth strive for or want to achieve now?  Will they come closer to mindfulness and peace as a measure of success instead of some cookie cutter pathway to an outdated definition?