I am often amazed at how much a lot of the old time adages can still apply to this ever quickening pace of our country.
What amazes me even more is if you went around your community and asked what that saying meant you could literally see a dividing line start to form. Older people on one hand who could answer and younger people on the other hand who might not be able to. And that’s what I’d like to point out here.
There is an ever-widening ravine forming between our generations these days. Communications have shut down it seems. Families are being divided and in the midst of it all, we are losing something extremely important. We are losing our principles, our values, and sadly, our morals.
Take one day out of your life and stand back and observe the people around you. I did that. What I saw was pretty scary.
I saw teenagers coming out of homes going into the work force with no idea what it means to “work”. I saw older people having to deal with these adolescents and choosing to grumble about it instead of trying to figure out where this important principle slipped away to. It didn’t slip anywhere. These teens aren’t out there purposely trying to trip up everyone. They were never taught that simple basic principle in the first place. So, if anything, they are at more of a loss than we as adults are.
Now of course you might think, “Well, it’s the parents fault” and in some cases you’d be right in saying so. But if you are really going to observe than we should get a little deeper into this subject.
Let’s look at the employer also. Where is the incentive to work? In most places it’s gone. The employer can’t afford the generosity anymore. Let’s look at our schools. Where did teaching the Golden Rule go? It’s been yanked out of our school systems by a society that no longer cares about the next guy.
And that’s where the problem lies. People do not have the time anymore to even think about what’s happening around them. They are so busy trying to keep up with this dizzying pace that we as a nation have created.
Don’t you think it’s time to get back to basics? Like stopping for just a moment to reflect on one good thing you might have seen or experienced during the day? Can’t find one? Are you sure? Did you look real hard? Come on try! How many green lights did you hit on the way to work today? How many people did you see that smiled today? How many things did you see that made you smile today? See? Get the picture? That’s “stopping to smell the flowers!”
How about waking up and convincing yourself that “today is going to be a good day.” Even if it might be a Monday! Try it! It gets easier with consistent practice.
The next time you run across a young person stumbling through their job, try a word of encouragement to them. The fact that they are even trying to work means that they are at least making an effort. Give them a reason to continue. If they can try, won’t you?