We Become Our Thoughts

I recently stumbled across a mind-blowing stat.

It seems that eighty-eight percent of the U.S. Population is younger than me, which is to say, they haven’t yet reached their 70^th birthday. I knew I was getting up there, but honestly, I had no idea how exclusive my longevity is.

Let’s face it, old people are, in a word, old! Their ideas are generally old, their ways are old, and they look old. Thank God I’m the exception (I hope you feel similarly about yourself).

The statistic led me to wonder how younger people perceive the world. More specifically, I wondered how differently young people starting out today see their future vs. me when I was their age.

When I graduated from school, I saw the world as a huge opportunity and was eager to pursue it wherever it might take me. I was undaunted by the fact that success was totally up to me. I was eager to work hard and knew I would be successful.

That was me on the surface. Deeper down, I was lonely. I never felt like I fit in, regardless of where I was. I played the violin in the orchestra (with a bunch of nerds) and raced motocross on the weekends (with a bunch of crazies). It didn’t feel like I belonged to either group.

In college, I enrolled in the School of Agriculture, one of the few students who were raised in the city instead of on a farm. I showed up to my first class in an embroidered smock, sporting a leather necklace, and hair down past my shoulders. I couldn’t figure out what that round circle was in the jeans pockets of my crew-cut classmates.

Maybe my conflicted feelings weren’t so different than young people’s today. Loneliness, according to the Surgeon General, has reached epidemic levels. We didn’t measure such things back in the 70s. I guess young people are always searching for where they fit in. Perhaps tattoos are today’s freak flag.

The major difference between my former self and Gen Z was optimism. I don’t find the same youthful exuberance today.

Recently, I struck up a conversation with a young man who told me that the American Dream was dead; that his attractive income was nuetered by six-figure college debt. His rent was over $2,000/ month, and he said he would never be able to afford a single-family home. Despite being a small-business entrepreneur, he leaned heavily toward socialism. “Capitalism,” he claimed, “has failed us!”

Rather than arguing with him, I sadly listened.

It’s not easy out there for young people today. Society is going through tumultuous change. Worse yet, the small rectangle in our pockets amplifies negativity to ear-splitting levels. But when isn’t society going through tumultuous change? I grew up at a time when thousands of my contemporaries were being killed in Southeast Asia. Civil rights leaders were being beaten and killed at home.

Have you ever wondered why the early 70s were the highwater mark in popular music (even my kids think so)? It’s because of the gut-wrenching pain of war and the injustice of the times. Pain chisels out a receptacle for beauty. Happiness is weak soil for artistic expression.

If Gen Z is so racked with pain, why aren’t they making better music?

Young people used to be optimistic, or if not, to at least instigate change. Back in the day, it was the old stiffs, like me, who sat on their duffs and complained that the world was “going to Hell in a handbasket.” Strangely, this seems to have reversed.

The classic Buddhist text, the Dhammapada, teaches that our minds powerfully shape our reality. Thoughts form the foundation for words, deeds, habits, and character; ultimately, they determine our destiny.

I resonate with that!

We must carefully guard our thoughts. Negative thoughts soil one’s temperament. I may be old, but I’m optimistic. In fact, I’m frequently criticized by readers of my posts for being overly optimistic. To that, I can only say, “Guilty as charged!”

To be clear, there are things going on today (we live in Minneapolis) that I never thought possible in this country. Can things get worse? You bet they can, and probably will! I could make a strong case for pessimism on a number of fronts, but I refuse to do that.

Here’s a simple question to consider: Would you and your loved ones be better off if you choose to see a world in decay, or a world filled with possibilities? Remember the Serenity Prayer?

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”*

I carefully monitor my thoughts, stopping negative ones in their tracks. Positive thoughts need space to grow. Positive thinking is an important habit to cultivate. I cover this in my soon-to-be-released book, The Secret Within.

In closing, here’s a very important point to remember:

We become our thoughts.

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*Quote often attributed to American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

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My first book, Towards A Life Well-Lived, can be purchased by clicking this link. Proceeds from sales are donated to Peace In Schools, a Portland, Oregon-based organization that supports mindfulness training in high schools.