“Leadership is
not about the next election, it’s about the next generation”…Simon Sinek (1973
- ) British / American author, motivational speaker and marketing consultant.
Boring.
As a
kid my dad used to ensure that my siblings and I watched the news, although I
naturally preferred cartoons. Ironically, now I watch the news so much that I
always look forward to checking with my dad if he has gotten the latest
updates.
Guess
what though, now everyone seems to pay attention to the news because there are
loads of interesting and even unbelievable things happening ranging from
American politics and alleged Russian interference and several heating up of
the polity in Asia, successful brainchildren such as Uber and other technology
discoveries and not to make little.
Stagnant
water as they say doesn’t only stink, it also breeds flies, unwanted reptiles
and undesired dirt, perhaps this is a huge moral and psychological
justification why we humans instinctively always want to move out of our
comfort zones and then to the next level in order to keep experiencing the new
and interesting things that life and the world in general apparently always
seems to have in abundance (mind blown).
Back
in high school I vividly reminisce an old friend explaining to me the saying
‘the more you look, the less you see’.
When
you see something, like a movie or a story for instance, chances are you want
to see another one, perhaps due to our capacities to conquer the world with our
ideas and strengths, possibly because there is a lot of fascinating things to
see, as there are literally massive kilometers of land to cover, that’s why we
want to get the now over with quickly and then move on gracefully to the next
phase of our lives, else we get so miserably bored.
“In any moment of decision,
the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong
thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing”…Theodore Roosevelt (1858 –
1919) 26th President of the United States of America from 1901 to
1909.
Shut up and drive.
There
are definitely many questions constantly clouding us, like what is the right
thing though?
Apart
from the fact that it sounds vague, it also appears to have the semblance of a
needle in the haystack, considering the seemingly complex structure, stratified
processes, justified conspiracies and clandestine activities of high level
controls and the planet in general that constantly happen all around us.
Saying
the world is big is actually a huge understatement, it gets quite bigger by
every single living thing as it craves its own space, and just as the birds
always fly in the skies without fighting for space, we should be thankful that
the world still has a comfortable place to offer.
In
the light of this, maybe we should just relax our feet and enjoy the ride, and
if you’re the one driving, perhaps you should just focus on the imperative future,
in as much as history is our essential guide.
“I grew up in the physical world and I speak
English. The next generation is growing up in the digital world, and they speak
social”…Angela Ahrendts (1960 - ) American Businesswoman and senior vice
president of retail at Apple Inc.
Are the kids ready…for the
future?
Kids
are a wonderful bundle of joy; some even call them miracles, imaginably because
they are an opportunity to create a better version of us, just like they say ‘a
son is a father’s second chance.’
Wait
a minute though; times have indeed changed because what I see is that we are
ignorantly loving our kids…presumably to death.
It’s
a whole new world, and this era sure requires an entirely different way of
approach. Gone are the days when honesty and integrity was the order of the day
and our fathers had to take things cool, but now everyone is in so much hurry
especially in desperate quest to acquire excess money that they probably don’t
really need.
Sadly
the kids have noticed this and have promptly followed suit. Now, virtually
everything has a price tag and our youths are willing to trade their health,
integrity, future and ultimately their lives to get material things and fame
that will assuredly fade away with time.
Yes
the world is getting smaller by the day as effective communication and improved
transportation between nations has made the planet a global village. The merits
of course are trade relations, learning and respect for various cultures and
languages, but the disadvantages include adoption of behavioral patterns that
we don’t actually understand due to our ignorance of their historical facts and
their actual relevance to our livelihood.
For
instance, most of our kids have their heads in the clouds, lost in apparent
fantasy, disillusioned to be living the life of the average western kid that
has been bred with privileged high standard and government recognition, which
of course the African kid is truly deprived of.
When
our kids graduate from school with this alien mindset, they hardly get by
because they have been stereotyped to be employees and not entrepreneurs,
destined to be unfulfilled except if corrupt, ripping away the very fabric of
the nation.
“Listen to the silence. Listen
to your life. Be present, not just think about what’s going on next week, next
month”…Mike Dirnt (1912 - ) American musician, composer and songwriter.
An interesting journey,
tourney or whatever...
So
far so good I’d say like a true African, it’s been good so long we are still
alive, morally that’s the right thing to say right? Especially if all you tend
to do isn’t just to dwell on complacence and mediocrity, and as they say, excellence
doesn’t just fall on anyone’s lap right?
So
are we really bored, are we focused on our future, are our kids ready for the
future and has it been an interesting future?
Well,
the answer is in your hands depending on who you are, what your experiences and
beliefs are, and your level of influence over your environment to inspire them
to key into your pro-active projections for the future.
The
western worlds have partly taken care of the boring part by constantly churning
out gadgets, games and sports. Our focus on the future is motivated by the
economic reality, which requires us to be productive.
Are
our kids ready for the future? For now yes, but soon they won’t be unless we
quit spoon-feeding them as teenagers. And has it been an interesting journey?
Well of course, I even wonder if it can get better than this, the United States
has a president that virtually everyone considers a man-child while we are wary
of nukes popping out from any corner in the wake of an apparent prediction of
the third world war, it is well.
This
is a shout out to all the folks that are alive, I sure do hope that you realize
and appreciate how beautiful, precious and priceless life and its experiences
are, and it is also a great honour to experience together with you all the
phenomenal changes occurring around the world in our time, and having and
making history together is a privilege denied many.
I say
this with all humility as we together move on to the next lovely phase of this wonderful
world and period, best of luck.
Thank
you, and be awesome.
Akin
Abimbola.
Twitter: @akinzogee
Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin
Abimbola
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Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good
reads, Wikipedia
This
article is an original piece, reasonably researched and contains considerable
opinion and a unique style of the author.
The
names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are
usually fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely
co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.
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