The Teen Years
It was Fall…and, the leaves were falling. The seasonal words,
like Fall, made sense now. At last, I understood why the seasons
were given their names. It was Fall…my favorite time of year.
It was a time for assessing
and harvesting. It was a time to think about the year as we prepare
to “hunker down” for a possible cold, snowy Winter.
I was raking and burning leaves. I had waited for this day of
low winds, balmy temperatures and a warm sun. It was surely a day
God had given me to get my raking work done. Then, suddenly, far down
the road, I saw him…my neighbor was “on the move”. The Sage was heading
this way…I knew my work time was about to be cut short. I frantically
raked until he came within voice contact.
“Need some help?” he called. I reluctantly declined his offer.
He then insisted on helping me, so I got another rake and waited to see
if he could handle the physical exertion. We worked the leaves down
the hill to the road’s edge where the fire was flickering and the smoke was
barreling out
and down the road creating a smog/fog blinding condition. We
piled the leaves on the smoky fire without any thought of responsibility
or the results that could occur with the conditions we were creating.
With unspoken words, we worked to maintain the blinding wall of smoke
with a degree of a slight smile. At that moment, we felt like Millenium
men. We challenged the laws. We created a high-risk condition.
Then suddenly a scream came from the house. It was my little princes
gasping for another breath. She demanded that our wall of smoke cease.
I knew it was the end of our “millenium” moment.
The Ol’ Sage and I looked at each other and discretely smiled as we
complied. The smoke reduced as we began new piles of leaves down
the road, distant from the smoldering flames. As the burning leaves
fell to a
light fog, we remembered and cherished that smoking moment when we
were pressing the limits just as we had many years ago in our youth.
It was time for a break anyway. The fun had ended and the Pepsi was
cold. I suggested we sit for a while on the front porch where we
could watch the residual smoke work it’s way gently down the road.
He smiled and complied.
“Well”, he began, “…that was fun”. “It’s great to know that we
haven’t forgotten the thrill of adolescence, nor have we lost our capacity
to challenge the law.” He readily admitted he had no desire to return
to the package of stress and confusion inherent in those “teen years”.
But we both agree there were parts of that life experience that were memorable,
exhilarating and, too often, at the edge of danger.
We talked about those teen years that had caused us to be blindingly
narrow in our perceptions of life and it’s natural process. We agreed
that it was a piece of rebellious life that denied rules and sought to be
free of life’s responsibilities. And, lastly, we agreed that we first
had to meet
defeat of those “childhood rules”, before we could move on to adulthood.
Often the teenage learning experience was a painful process but it was the
foundation upon which we built our adult lives.
So, we sat down with our diet Pepsis and talked about those exciting,
confusing, challenging years…what we did; what we learned and the lessons
that took us to a responsible adult life. It was nearly a yelling
match at times as old memories exploded to the top of list. Then
the question was spoken…What lessons did we need before we could “move on”?
This is our list…
1. The Ol’ Sage suggested the first fact we needed to accept…Adults
want us to succeed and they have the only winning game in town.
2. Only when we get up and leave our comfortable life, can life change
for us. And when we sit in the midst of a disturbing and failing
life style, the only changes we are likely to see are bad ones.
3. Our self worth, pride and confidence grow as we move, act, engage
with opportunities.
4. We can become immobilized when we sit too long. Then we
must walk in faith until we reactivate our internal motivational forces.
If we don’t “walk
in faith”, we will be destined to sitting still until others move us…sometimes
to unwanted destinations.
5. In any new learning, there are failures and set-backs. Successful
people continue until they find success…no matter what tragic events occur.
Failures are no more than those who quit in the process of the game.
6. When we can identify our dream and seek it, we find power, strength
and determination that exceeds normal limits. Want to know what God’s
plan is for you? You can find His extraordinary power and His rewards
as you chase your dream.
7. Angry or “hurt” emotions can undermine our growth. Long
term stress can also play a major role in our ability to move forward.
These negative emotions are with us all…the key question is do they have
the driver’s seat and do they manage our lives? The fact is that these
emotions can lead us to damaging destinations…like prison, hospitalization,
or physical damage?
8. Success is not a place. Success is a process. It is
a way of life. It’s the walk. It’s seeking the goal.
It is not an award or a “Thank you”. It is not the gift of a retirement
income or the visit from a grand child. It is not a new car or a
big house. It’s a process of life…a way of life that demands our obedience
until we can walk no further. It is a priceless treasure. We
could never be worthy of such a gift but we accept it.
It took two drinks and a bag of chips to complete our list of lessons
to adulthood. Maybe we left out some of them….maybe not. We
had fun sitting on the front porch steps, recalling old memories as we built
our list. 
Then I knew it was time to resume the leaf raking when a box of black
plastic bags came flying out from the front door…my honey had spoken again
without a word.
It was mid-day now. The sun was intense for a Fall day.
The breezes were not enough to move the leaves or cool the work force.
It was a frustrating time of the day for working in the yard...but we worked.
We were demonstrating one of those differences between the teen and the
adult. We were proud of our persistence.
Then suddenly I looked around and saw The Ol’ Sage still persistently
assisting me. Wow, I thought. A friend who “is there” even
in the midst of discomfort. When I shared my thoughts, he replied,
“It’s one of those good 
gifts we brought with us from those teen years”. We both smiled
as we realized the teen years had some priceless good qualities.
We were experiencing one of them now. Then The Ol’ Sage who ended
our Fall experience with his thought,
“The teen years were a priceless gift that support the foundation of
our adult lives. Maybe as adults, our teen years still live on…but,
in bondage. If that is so, all I can only say is, "Thank God for bondage.”
