I have often read that the problem with many young people today is that their parents…my generation… constantly told them how special they are and that they can be anything they want. This constant praise did not always prepare them well for the often harsh realities of adult life in the modern world. This reminds me of a De-Motivational poster I once saw. It was a blown up picture of a large order of McDonald’s fries. The caption on the poster read “Not Everyone Gets To Be An Astronaut”. Yesterday I read some thoughts from Fr. Richard Rohr that also outlined some challenging realities about life. Some of you may find them negative and difficult to accept. Those of you who are older will probably find them realistic. They may even summarize your life so far.
- Life is hard.
- You are not that important.
- Your life is not about you.
- You are not in control.
- You are going to die.
Even if you have been blessed in life, you have certainly had hardships and challenges as well. Neither the world nor the sun revolves around any of us as individuals. Any of us can be removed from the picture and life will keep going on. You are also not in control of your own life, especially if you have a family. As a long time married family man who has also had responsibilities for many other people in my working career, my personal needs were often at the bottom of my to do lists. You cannot control anything. There is a Buddha meme that pops up occasionally on Facebook that goes “Relax! Nothing is in control”! At best you have the illusion of being in control. Finally, like it or not, some day we will all die. As someone with more time behind him than in front of him, I think about this a lot. However, I also feel very blessed because I have already been given more years than many other people were given. There’s nothing like thoughts of your own mortality to give perspective to how you are spending your life now. Think about this once in a while and make sure you are living your life best as you can.
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