Do you truly want to help the “younger” generation? Then how about supporting and encouraging them.
I can remember (really I can) being a teen-ager and saying “I will never not understand younger people as I get older.” I really thought I would always get it.
Here’s a news flash: I quite often don’t.
I also was very sure there would never be any music they could ever listen to that I wouldn’t understand.
Wrong again!
During my lifetime and career there have been plenty of people who didn’t believe in me, but there were always some who did.
Over time I made the conscious decision that I wanted to be one of those who believes in others. It is important for us as the “older” generation to intentionally breath life into the dreams of those younger than us.
Give good advice, and when sometimes it’s not taken, be there to pick up those who rejected it. None of us have taken all of the good advice we were given. It took me about 30 years to even realize the advice I was given when I was 20 was even good.
Things are not like they are in the 1950s or 1970s or 1990s. They are just not. Is it a shame that some of those things have changed” Yes, for sure. Is it good that some of those tings have changed? Absolutely, thank goodness!
But here we are in 2022 with a decision to make. Are we going to tell people what they are not or help them become what they could be. Are we going to talk a lot and listen a little or listen a lot and talk a little. And when you talk, make it be something that can be digested.
So this is my encouragement to all of us: As we celebrate those who are graduating from high school, community college, and a four-year school, let’s not forget to be more than cheerleaders.
Let’s make a determination to be present in their lives, whether we are related to them are not. Let’s take a chance on some folks, after all somebody, somewhere, at some time, took a chance on us.
The best way to become a true difference-maker and a compass for the young is to begin today.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.
