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Health & Fitness

Reason for Optimism

We can learn a lot from our kids about how to make our world a better place.

High unemployment, skyrocketing gas prices, plummeting home values…many people open the newspaper or listen to the evening news and find many reasons to be pessimistic. I am not one of those people. I believe we have many reasons to be optimistic. The most important reason is our greatest resource, the quality of our youth.

This belief was recently validated when my wife and I attended our daughter’s college graduation. Despite the cold rainy Chicago weather it was an uplifting experience. It was, like all graduation ceremonies, a time to reflect on the past, anticipate what the future might hold, and, of course, to celebrate. But most importantly for me, it was a time to observe. What I saw and heard gave me reason to believe that the future of our country and our world is in good hands.

In meeting and speaking with other parents as well as my daughter’s friends, their college experiences and plans for the future were important topics of conversation. What I saw and heard in the course of these conversations gave me reason to believe that the future is in good hands. The discussions revolved around the important personal relationships that they had developed, their studies, and most surprising to me, their commitment to public service. Here are a few specific things I learned about these kids:

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They expect to accomplish important things and to solve the “big” problems. Many of these students applied their energy, interests and talents to helping those in need during college and planned to continue doing this throughout their working lives. In many cases these graduates chose to defer their ambitious career plans often at personal financial sacrifice in order to join public service organizations to help solve the most important problems facing our world. Their plans include teaching and mentoring youth, developing educational, vocational, and health programs, building and training volunteer networks for disaster relief efforts, and renovating housing and infrastructure in under-served communities.

They’re not just concerned with getting rich. I never once got the impression that these kids are foolishly optimistic or naïve about the current state of the economy or job market. They are well aware that these are challenging times, and are adaptable and willing to make sacrifices to do what they need to pay the bills. However they are developing their long-term career plans sensibly, based on what they love to do, where their natural abilities lie, and the kind of positive impact they can make, rather than how much money they can make. It seems to me that they have recognized early on what most adults never do: that the most successful career is the one that you love and where you can make the greatest contribution. Excellent compensation will often follow.

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They respect their classmates for their abilities and character - not because of their race, religion, or background. I believe this is a tribute to our colleges that are working to increase diversity on campus, offering greater opportunities for student involvement in civic and community service. The result is that our children are becoming adults with greater understanding, acceptance and respect for cultural differences, a more informed view of the world, and most importantly, fewer irrational prejudices.

They are confident, optimistic, and determined. They believe the big problems are solvable and they are capable of solving them - Perhaps because they are too busy accomplishing things to be listening to the negative chatter of cable news or pouring over discouraging newspaper stories. They are enthusiastic and optimistic about the future and their ability to use their gifts to make a positive difference in solving the country’s problems. In other words, they are looking forward rather than backward, spending less time worrying about the problems and more time working on the solutions.

I could not have been more impressed with the talent, enthusiasm, and commitment that I witnessed in our young people at graduation. It gave me even greater confidence that our world bears little resemblance to the one depicted in the news stories that most Americans read, listen to and watch.

We can learn a lot from our kids about how to make our world a better place. If you have any doubt, attend a college graduation.

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