Growing up is never easy. It seems like one day you’re playing with little cars and dolls and the next you’re a freshman in high school and you don’t know what you’re supposed to do. You still want to have fun like you used to when you were little but you also want to be considered as a more mature person. Your body goes through some changes, one day you like pink and the day after you hate it. Your parents often seem to be the worst people in your life because they don’t understand you or so you think. When you go through all those changes in your life you often question yourself as who am I? What do I like? What am I supposed to do? And it seems as if you need everything that you see and everything that your friends have; you need the newest brand, you need the newest phone, you need the newest bike or car. You don’t really need all of that, you just want it so you can feel good about at least these things in your life as everything else is confusing and hard.
My parents did not believe in this kind of life, the words, “I want...” were even forbidden in our home; they’d rather have me and my siblings say, “I would like..." or, "I wish to have...” My parents always taught me the value of things, I was never given things; I had either earned them by coming home with good grades or helping in the house. When I was about fourteen I had my very first job, giving swim lessons and the little money I got from it allowed me to pay for what I wanted, not that I really needed this money, but at least I had worked for it.
I come from a middle class family, we aren’t rich, but we aren’t living in need either. I always had food in my belly, I always had a bed to sleep on, I always had clothes on my back, I always had everything I needed. My parents made sure to make the extra effort so me and my siblings were well taken care of. But if I came home and told them I wanted an iPod, they would tell me, "No, you don’t need an iPod." I would sometimes be mad at them because I would often be one of the only people in my class to not have the new thing. I attended a private catholic school and some of my classmates came from very fortunate families, they were always on top of the new things coming out and they always had the nicest clothes. I sometimes fell out of place.
When I look back, all I want to do is thank my parents for the way they raised me and my siblings. They taught us to work (hard) for what we wanted and they taught us that when you truly want something you do everything in your power to get it. I see some of my friends today, they are about 25, getting ready to join the adult world and they have no clue how much it takes from us to be able to get these things we want because their parents always gave them everything they wanted when they wanted it. They never had to wait for it or work for it; it was just handed to them. I feel sorry for my friends because adulthood is going to hit them hard and they may not be able to handle it. I always wondered how some of them would live if their parents lost their job and then they wouldn’t have any money… What would their behavior be? How would they cope with a normal life made of ups and downs?
I don’t think giving children all they want all the time is a good way to educate the young generations. What if we give them all they want all the time and then when it’s time for them to actually work and contribute to the society they are incapable of doing so? What is our world going to look like in a while if this generation keeps on getting everything handed to them?
I hope to raise my children in the way my parents did for me because I want them to understand that things don’t come easy, you have to earn them and work for them. Not everyone has the chance to have food on the table everyday and you should be grateful for what you have even if it seems to not be enough sometimes.
"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way." -- Les Brown
