Longing for "The Good Old Days!"

"It was a lot easier when I was growing up!"

"Kids these days are rebellious and irresponsible...not accepting or following their parents' guidance..."

That is definitely an accurate description of today's situation...

The interesting thing is that the previous observations were a paraphrased excerpt, from the Greek, written almost 3,000 years ago!

Some things change and some things don't!

I can vividly recall my parents saying the same thing about my generation...and I have carried on that same tradition...

Perhaps "It is what it is..."

or...

We have not yet learned the lesson that history is trying to teach us!

If you recall...one of my "Epiphanies of the Utterly Obvious"  (EUO) is...

History is our best teacher...she will patiently repeat herself...until we learn the lesson that she intends to teach us!

So what is the lesson?

Is it about us as parents?

Is it about our children?

...or...

Is it not related to parenting or children whatsoever?

These are questions that I have been pondering since a discussion with my mother a few weeks ago...

We were reminiscing about my growing up and how good we had it!

Back then...

We could go for 3 day camping trips...alone...and my parents wouldn't worry!

We fished and hunted...

In first grade...just about every boy brought their scout knives to class...to show off what they got for Christmas!

We were up at the "crack of dawn" or earlier because we were excited about what the day offered!

We had odd jobs...and made enough money to buy our own first motor cycles...or cars!

We stayed up all night and watched planetary conjunctions...meteor showers...

We spent an excessive amount of time at the library studying how to do things...and then we did them!

We dammed streams and made mini lakes!

We picked berries and hunted wild asparagus!

We water skied every night!  SERIOUSLY!

We dreamed...and attempted to make many of them a reality...to the best of our abilities!

Why?

Because it was fun!

I digress...

Yet we were a rebellious lot!

I guess!

As a fifth grader...I vividly recall my attempt to "fight" the establishment who wanted to remove a row of majestic oak trees that lined the road we lived on...in order to widen and re-pave it!

I lost!

I remember the disbelief of local authorities who questioned our "archaeological dig" activities along a railroad cut that we systematically conducted after weeks of study...that we decided to do after finding ancient pottery shards and arrowheads on a walk!

We were shut down!

Despite all of our failures...we persisted...and/or went on to another endeavor!

Perhaps our persistence was confused with rebellion!

Those were the "good old days!"

Those were MY good old days!

They are absolutely fond memories!

Not all of them were good...and I seldom do not remember the bad times...but vividly recall the good ones!

What I often forget is that TODAY will someday be someone's "Good Old Days"

and now knowing that...

I have to ask...

What role am I going to play in it?

Am I going to be something that someone remembers or forgets?

Shifting Gears!

The "good old days" made me who I am today!

There are days that I long to go back...

...UNTIL...

I realize that during my "good old days" I longed for the future...to get to the places that what I was doing then would take me...

I couldn't wait to get...

...HERE...

My "good old days" were my "Life 101 - Introduction to Life" classes...

Although I never got a report card...I hope that I got "A's!"

I certainly appreciate my teachers and professors!

I certainly enjoyed the lesson plans!

I am grateful for all of it!

Back to our discussion...as if it ever started!

The good old days!

We were what we were and did what we did...to get us here...

We have good memories and we have bad memories...

Both have made us what we are...

It doesn't pay to dwell on the bad things...unless we learn lessons from them...

Dwelling on such things is like living them over and over and over!

Learning from them...allows us to heal...so that...

We can dwell on the good things...over and over and over...

and ultimately grow...

In nature...there is inevitable storms, and cold snaps...and floods and droughts...

If they persist...the flora and fauna dies...

But if they persist through those times...

The sun and warmth helps them recover and regain their foothold!

Our lives are just like that!

We can live in a world of storms and drought...but this will ultimately lead to our extinction!

or...

We can persist...

...Put them behind us and regain a foothold...and flourish!

ENOUGH SAID!

PURA VIDA!