Daily Reading - Daily Guide to Success series - "A Graduate's Daily Guide to Success"

Today's reading, April 16th is taken from "A Graduate's Daily Guide to Success" (purchase this version of Allen James' Calendar Books at lulu.com/spotlight/allenjames1961, $22.00 paperback, just in time for graduation. The perfect choice f...or the graduate if you're wanting to veer away from the humdrum 20$ and a card).

"Work with the next generation".

Over the years I've worked with youth in a variety of venues. While I was in college I was a youth leader at Westside Baptist Church in Murray KY. My career as a high school English teacher found me teaching seniors College Prep. English, drama, speech, publications, and directing school plays as well as sponsoring the Speech and Academic Teams. In my role as a psychotherapist some of my most moving patients were young people who reached beyond their self-centered material world into the self-empowering world within to step beyond depression and the demons it can cause in lives.

As a middle-aged adult (there, I said it. I'm middle-aged...first time I've ever realized the fact) working as a college English instructor and as a high school counselor again, I find myself surrounded by the vivaciousness and carefree attitudes of the young. I thrive on reading their opinions, getting a glimpse of the minds of those who will be the movers and shakers of my tomorrow.

Dr. Jon Nussbaum of Penn State addresses the importance of intergenerational relationships by stating "For younger people, having an older friend listen closely helps them feel heard and respected... For older people, having younger friends can help them better connect to the broader culture. Young people are more invested in media and pop culture, so communication with them keeps an older person engaged" (experiencelife.com), says Nussbaum. There’s evidence, too, he notes, friendships with younger people can speed brain activity in older individuals, literally stimulating the mind in a way peer-to-peer communication doesn’t.

As with most healthy relationships, when we are able to see things through the eyes of people who have very different experiences and assumptions than we, or as Atticus Finch put it in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird", "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Ch 3. It is definitely food for the brain and worth the thought.

Work with the next generation...expand your views and enlighten theirs.

Keep looking up. : ) AJ