Go bravely...and gently forward

"My words of wisdom to the coming generation, who have some trepidation about this adulting thing, is simple this - go bravely into each day, and treat others as gently as you would like to be treated. Everything else will fall into place. Have a heart for God and a love for people, and you will be well on your way. That is, until it is your time too, to turn over the keys." 

For many of those in my generation (that would be the "Boomers"), a realization has set in. After seeing some of our contemporaries pass on before us, we realize our yesterdays far outnumber our tomorrows. Some things we once could do with ease, are now not as easy. In fact, some things just can't be done anymore. But to be truthful, one thing which haunts many of us, is turning over the keys to this world to the next generation. Just like it concerned our parents when it was their time to go, we worry about what kind of world we are turning over at the end of our watch.

Have we prepared them enough? Taught them enough? Warned them about the danger of foolish things and where the traps are? But then it dawned on me. Our parents taught us as much as they thought was necessary to us to survive. The other stuff we were to figure out for ourselves. 

I have seen the red flags already with some of our young folks. Not all, but some. Failure to launch. Failure to move out of the basement. Failure to find the right person to marry, settle down with, and have kids of their own. In other words, failure to adult. Some of that is our fault, for not setting the bar high enough. How so? 

I was raised in an Ozzie and Harriet type of house. Two loving parents, I was provided for, cared for. But that was when I was growing up. In my teenage years, both my sister and I got "the talk". The nest was going to tip. "When you two are 19 years old, your father and I want you out on your own. It will be our time then, just to be together, the two of us." That was a shocker for sure. 19 was only a few years away, and I had no clue on how to be self-sufficient.

Long story short, both my sister and I made the gate. At 19, my sister married a pastor. At 19, I was in the Navy. The nest was tipped, and I never looked back. Always close to my parents, they became my friends as well as my parents. Both of my kids came close to the age 19 exit, and then our nest was tipped also. Life goes on.

My words of wisdom to the coming generation, who have some trepidation about this adulting thing, is simple this - go bravely into each day, and treat others as gently as you would like to be treated. Everything else will fall into place. Have a heart for God and a love for people, and you will be well on your way. That is, until it is your time too, to turn over the keys.