I am optimistic about the future of our young women. Yes, I know there are so many reasons to be concerned about them; but we don’t have to go into them here. What has me optimistic is my interaction with twenty two fantastic young ladies last night.
Judging from the past
Having come of age in the 1960’s I naturally use those years as my point of judgement. I have often wondered how our young people will be able to make their way, what with the focus on social media and texting. Perhaps you too have had this thought. I have feared the isolation that stems from what appears to be an over-dependence on impersonal communication systems will influence their interaction with others as the years roll by. However last night I got to see something wonderful.
For most of the past thirty years it has been my honor to serve as Master of Ceremonies for the Miss Oceanside Scholarship Pageant. Twenty two incredible ladies, some as young as fourteen, participated in the program this time. Each was unique and perfect in their own right. Each displayed a sense of self and purpose I found heartwarming. They do not relate to our world the same way my peers do, but why should they? They face a world far different than the one we faced.
Passing the torch
As grown-ups, the most difficult thing we have to do is trust the younger generation(s). It is very easy to believe they are unprepared, self-involved and uninformed, but then our parents and grandparents probably felt much the same about us. Each generation has to find their own way, and somehow they have done so for generations uncounted. Who were their teachers? You and I were there teachers. We could only teach what we had learned. What we taught was a distillation of what we had been taught, which had little to do with what they would face. When we feel a reluctance to hand over the reins of our world to the younger generation, what we are truly expressing is a doubt in our own ability to prepare for the future.
To those on the way up, godspeed. Trust your inner-guidance, love one another, and make this world better than what we hand you today. Oh, one more thing; read Bear and Butterfly. Learn to truly hear what others are saying.
