It's a powerful moment. The sudden realization that you can do and be anything you want. Not just in the the-world-is-your-oyster, eye-of-the-tiger sense. You realize that you have the capacity - monetary, intellectual, influential - to do anything you want.
Suddenly, the path that you've been foraging thus far seems all too limiting. The places you've been, the things you've experienced seem like the tip of an iceberg. You begin to rethink the 9-5, knowing that it's not your only option. You realize that the world is so much bigger than Los Angeles, than America, than North America.
The whole bit reminds me of a Seth Godin post I read. About a month ago, he wrote about, "the paralysis of unlimited opportunity." His point was that when faced with unlimited choices, one must decide whether to greet the universe of options with open arms, or whether to limit choices wisely. Whatever the choice, the worst thing one can do, he writes, is to do nothing.
As kids, we are told that we can be anything we want to be. Then somewhere along the way, by internal or external causes, the message gets muddled. It took me 24.5 years to fully appreciate the extent of my options. If this is what "youth is wasted on the young" refers to, I can only hope that I'm beat over the head by reminders.
1 comments:
Well said. This is why young people these days are so discontent with their jobs-- because they are always thinking about all the other things that they COULD be doing (maybe they should have tried that acting gig in LA, or moved to South Africa to work on a farm... instead of being a corporate peon which incidentally, does pay pretty well)
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