Life is a rich tapestry and we should aim to keep it as colourful and vibrant and filled with wonder, challenge, joy and learning.This for me is what motivates me, to take on the challenges life presents and roll with it, sometimes it’s a rollercoaster ride and sometimes it’s just good old plain sailing.
I am reflecting on this tonight as I have just spent the past few weeks working with teenagers teaching English as a foreign language and I feel enlightened after the experience. They reminded me that it’s really a kind of a jumping off point in your life isn’t it? Into the deep end of the pool and you are just not sure if your swimming skills are up to it, you might be able to swim or then again you just might drown. I didn’t get that tumultuous sense off them that I felt in my teenage years. They seemed quite relaxed and present (well most of the time). I felt a hyper presence in my teenage years, like a swirling, whirpool of emotion and events, never ending and all consuming. Perhaps they are just good actors, they hide it well. I felt like the adult in the room looking for clues on how to engage, how to reach them without being patronising,boring and old fashioned, who me? Yeah I admit I am slightly archaic now.
But somewhere in there I am still that teenager striving to find the answers, searching for the most exciting route and resolute in my belief that I will not be hindered or my plans thwarted in any way. Wanting to keep some things sacred.Keep it original, individual.Keep it real.
It’s only when you are slightly older I think that you realise the wealth of opportunity that is out there and for young people they just need someone to guide them, help them to believe in magic like they did when they were children. To remind them that this is just the beginning, to buckle up, it’s going to be a thrilling ride albeit a bumpy one. Somehow, I think they kind of know that already!