Global Energy

A member of the well-informed, idealistic youth with ambitions to change the world has given me some perspective this week, reminding me of how it feels to have the horizon wide open, to be young, to have the luxury of that collegiate vision that anything is possible once a degree is obtained. While the degree is pending and there's no looming graduation date anywhere nearby to drown you with apprehensions about the immediate future, you think about what could be. Contrast that with people all around you, outside of school, who have settled. Who have worked the same unsatisfying job for decades. Who once had that idealistic vision and gradually saw that the possibilities have closed in on them, one by one, closed first by someone with higher qualifications landing their dream job or winning their targeted scholarship, then by substandard grades, then by money, then by babies, husbands, or wives, then by convalescent parents, then by addiction, or disease, or anxiety, or fear, or ... whatever else imaginable that could work to cloud their potential. I think that's just what happens when many of us get older. We find reasons, or reasons find us, for why we cannot conquer the world, the world as we see it, or our personal world, in the way we once imagined we would. Being reminded of what it feels to know that the possibilities are endless inspires me to appreciate that energy, to remind me of why I wanted an education in the first place, to seize the moment and to not settle for unsatisfying and draining work. Many people will tell you that most jobs are drudgery, draining and unsatisfying. The sparkle will disappear from your eyes, the spring will go out of your step, and your hope will be extinguished if you let yourself believe that. You will start wearing a lot of gray and brown. There has been a lot written, and a lot of movies and stories, about that concept, so I'm not relaying anything original or different, I know. But to actually be reminded of the optimism for life potential, the great unknown, by someone of a tender age combined with the global energy to believe in himself and his future, is somewhat rejuvenating.