I traveled to the Windy City last week and had the privilege of making a dozen new friends. tiffkin introduced me to all her college pals, and after a couple days of careful observation, I believe I passed full inspection and was accepted into the family. I felt like I fit right in.One of the things we seem to talk a lot about though was the places we’re headed, the future, the tomorrow that we’re working hard today to create. I don’t think there’s anything extraordinary about a 20-30 year old wondering what life will be like when they turn 40-50, but what struck me was how different it seemed from my parents’ generation.
We’d be driving through a particular area and someone would say, "Man, I can't wait 'til we live in some place like this," or "We're saving so we can move up a little nicer," or "I would move there in a heartbeat if the price were right." We talked about having fancy house decorations, advancing our resumes, furthering our education, preparing some day to have children, watching our friends to see if they will eventually get married, etc. I liked our conversations, but it was funny to me how much of it centered on things we want to happen, things down the road, or maybe not on the road at all.
The interesting thing is that this seems so counter-cultural to what may parents’ generation wanted (and especially their parents). My mom and dad have lived in the same town for 30 years and, as far as I know, have never had a real desire to leave. I know people who have worked in non-glamour jobs like the Post Office for 30-40 years and stayed faithful every week. “Moving on up” was not a big compulsion, and concern for the future wasn’t so much about the places they’d one day be as much as the people they became.
I struggle sometimes being so enamored with making my tomorrow bright that I forget how important today is. I wonder if there are others out there like me.
Let’s have a little survey: How much of your day do you spend thinking about where you some day will be? How much time do you devote to things that are somewhere far down the line?
Not to be a bully . . . I’d just like to know. Maybe I’m the only one.
5 comments:
Some say dreams are for the young but dreams are fun at any age as long as you remember it's just dreaming. My dad was the best dreamer. He could get us kids so caught up into his dreams that we would go out and tell our friends that we were moving. I like to dream as much as the next guy but then I get up and go about my day as usual happier for having taken a few moments to dream. Dreams are just that, dreams not strategic plans for the future. Go wild and dream big it beats any movie out there!
I love to dream as much as the next guy but I want my dreams to have some meaning. I want them to be goals I can actually work towards.
i think it's normal across generations for people our age to talk about their futures... about glamorous homes and ideal living locations and what their families and careers will look like... ours is just a more transient, unsettled, always-searching generation that may never be satisfied with what they have even if it's what they think they've always wanted. how sad.
I'm guilty of day dreaming excessively. I guess we live in a generation that is never content. But dreams are good if they steer us to what God wants us to achieve.
good blog. i agree with tiffkin that our generation is unique for how "temporary" and transient it is. there are good and bad aspects to that. i think the challenge for us is to find the balance between taking advantage of all the possibilities and opportunities available to us (rather than getting stuck in an unhealthy rut)AND putting down solid roots (rather than "running away" from one new thing to the next).
I like to think about the future and what-ifs, but in general, i really enjoy NOW. When i think back to that great weekend in Chicago (and, yes, by the way, you fit right in, baj!), I really enjoyed all the moments: good conversations with friends, beautiful sights, taking it easy in a park or on a couch, making cards with girlfriends, just enjoying a walk on a summer night together. I wouldn't trade those moments for dreaming about the future.
We had a conversation (based on a question Oprah asked): what was your best day? And I find that question so hard to answer. I feel like every day is getting better. I can think back to good days, but I really enjoy NOW. It makes me a little sad to think of my "best day" as being some point in the past that I am constantly moving away from. So I like the NOW and I like looking forward to the things to come.
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