Navigating the Next 24 Hours

Good information can come from many places. As we watched TV, my husband and one of the kids got into a discussion about salaries, daily expenses, and everyone’s favorite—taxes.  During an explanation about how taxes work and how much money can disappear from your pay, we noticed our youngest child absorbing every word. We had to laugh when our intrigued child said, “I should take notes on this!” You’re never too young to start soaking up worthwhile advice—especially when it comes to taxes. Maybe this advice will benefit you, too:  

                                         http://youtu.be/LmimlZwjYs0  

Everyone has a story to share. What better way to learn a lesson than from someone else’s experience, especially if it’s a difficult one? I love how the teens went out and had face-to-face encounters with people that society often ignores. The advice fit everyone—youth, parents, college students, middle-aged folks, and even grandparents.  Some of the best advice came from the man who spoke about handling bad opportunities. He said don’t just walk away from them—run away! What guardrails have you placed in your life to keep you on the right track?

Which Way to Go?

Is it true that lessons we learn in our youth don’t always stick? For some reason, I keep going the wrong way when people give me directions. More than once someone said, “Turn right.” I turned left. On another occasion I heard, “Turn left.” I turned right. Hmmm. My teacher must have taught left vs. right in my kindergarten class, so I was half-amused, half-puzzled as to why I kept going the wrong way.

I came up with three possible explanations:

1. Heard, but never actually listened to the directions.
2. Thought I knew better.
3. Learned, but forgot left vs. right.

I choose a combination of answers one and two. So now I’ll focus on listening more and resist thinking I know it all. Lesson learned? We’ll see. Here’s a guy with another lesson to pass on:

                                         http://youtu.be/m2P2gMDojvo

That short clip was full of good advice. Take what you need from it. Thinking about your own  childhood experiences, what’s the best thing you learned that still helps you today?  

 

 

Giving up the Blame Game

Several years ago, I think there was a story about a wealthy man who promised a class of impoverished students free college tuition if they graduated from high school.  You're probably thinking that this deal was “money in the bank” for those students—problems solved.   Not really.  A majority of the scholarships went unused.  I was shocked by this outcome, but it shows that money doesn’t fix everything.  Apparently, the students faced some obstacles that were just too large to conquer. 

This situation reminded me of a book I read.  It’s a riveting memoir about a dysfunctional couple whose children grew up to lead relatively normal lives.  Check out the book video featuring the author and a piece of her story:

I often wonder why some kids make it through difficult circumstances and others flounder.  Despite growing up in extreme poverty, Ms. Walls (from the book video) had one critical element going for her—encouragement.  Although her father lived a risky and eccentric lifestyle, she often heard him say something like, “I knew you could do it, Mountain Goat!”  They shared a unique father-daughter relationship and the various family members seemed to love one another. 

While we may live in the world’s greatest country, I believe we can do a better job of preparing our young people for the future.  In your opinion, what’s the most important trait, quality or skill we need to instill in the next generation?