You’re A Young Man
To Sons, Young Men, and Parents
Young man: you’re working part-time. You’re the black-sheep of the family. Your parents are not getting on with each other. You know inside of you that you’ve got something good, but don’t know what it is.
Young man: you’re living in a single parent home. You hate everything and everyone. All your smiles are pretending smiles. You’re happiest at night and unhappiest when you wake up. You have dreams, but treat them as a gone-by.
Young man: you have no parents and have shifted around a lot. You know that most people don’t care; however, there are a few people different from the crowd. They are a source of light to you. Without the sun, nothing grows, so take the light. It’ll keep you going when darkness descends. But there’re days of light, too. And what’s better than that is that you can create days of light. Yes, that’s right — create. And sometimes, you can kill the darkness.
Young man, maybe this’s you: you have a great advantage over those who come from a loving home. You’re streetwise and a quick-thinking man. You’ve had to be to survive. What you’ve learnt, can’t be taught. That means you have a niche, an edge in your character that’s fit for the competitive world, where there are many sleepers and just a few doers.
Diligence is highly valued — I’ve learnt that. But diligence with intelligence is greatly valued. I know what I know, but what I don’t know — I listen like a child and learn. Watch Will Smith’s movie, ‘The pursuit of happiness.’ If you’re an American, then this will mean more to you.
This is a message to all young men. There are some people whispering in your ear to do bad things, promising you a future, tickling your ego, testing your manhood, and pressuring you to a job that has nothing to do with being a man. Get away from them — quick, even if it means leaving the place of where you’re staying. Being lost for doing the right thing, means somebody good will find you.
Good things take time. They always take time. One day, you won’t just be staying somewhere. You’ll be living in a place called home. Patience is the golden key to endurance. Endurance lasts the race. And everyone who finishes wins. That includes the seventy-years old Janitor who continues to work to pay his keep. He has dignity and pride and self-respect, whether he likes his job or not. The Japanese have a name for healthy people who don’t want to work: parasite.
You’re a parent and care about your son. You’re tired and maybe in despair. You need your life, too. Your son is your life and your joy and your pain. It sounds like a love story. It is, just a different kind of love story.
Depending on your culture, by the time your son is eighteen or twenty, your job is done. If your son is at the age of accountability, from now to manhood, you still have time to cast a loving influence that will cause him to come back to you one day and say, “Thank you, I love you.”
And us adults, we have our own childish problems with love and wants and adult playtime. Perhaps, love between a parent and a child has a greater chance of survival than romantic love. Then there is a good reason to love and forgive — for the sake of yourself and your child.
Trees:
teach me how to move with the wind
and
go with the flow
teach me how to change with the season
and
release my toxins
teach me how to value living water
and
conserve my life
teach me how to branch out
and
give to others
teach me how to drop seeds of goodness
and
shade the sprouts
and teach me how persevere
when
The Gardener
prunes
Check out my other stories on struggle and growth.
I hope 2021 will be a year of growth and stability, for you, and for us all.
