The future is not theirs
I've often wondered why children are continuously referred to as "the future" when all children who live long enough eventually become adults. When did those adults stop being the future? Why was their value stripped away?
But it occurred to me that it's not about stealing away someone's hopes or importance. It's precisely that children are seen as being the future: they are their parents' future. And when those children have grown and bear their own children, their children will become their future. It's a cycle of birth and death. While many may not care what lies beyond their own lifetime, others can't help but hope for a better world and live vicariously through their offspring.
If only people would realize that children are a product of their upbringing. They often resemble their parents both genetically and behaviorally and mimic what they see. How then can anyone ever hope for our children to create a better world when we today continue to destroy it? To place such burden on them is to ignore our own actions. It's a selfish mentality, isn't it?
I think it's better to say that we are the guides and forgers of the future, shepherding the younger generation along the path that we currently follow or wished we had.
But it occurred to me that it's not about stealing away someone's hopes or importance. It's precisely that children are seen as being the future: they are their parents' future. And when those children have grown and bear their own children, their children will become their future. It's a cycle of birth and death. While many may not care what lies beyond their own lifetime, others can't help but hope for a better world and live vicariously through their offspring.
If only people would realize that children are a product of their upbringing. They often resemble their parents both genetically and behaviorally and mimic what they see. How then can anyone ever hope for our children to create a better world when we today continue to destroy it? To place such burden on them is to ignore our own actions. It's a selfish mentality, isn't it?
I think it's better to say that we are the guides and forgers of the future, shepherding the younger generation along the path that we currently follow or wished we had.