Age is Just A Number
- November 8, 2024
- By Jared Daub
Age is Just A Number
Does age define a person’s maturity, their capability, or their responsibility? To me, Age is Just a Number. But I need to explain where I am coming from. It’s not what you think.
Corrupting the Meaning.
Someone will choose to skew our words in a dark, twisted way. Let me be clear here: I am NOT advocating for egregious violations of minors. The progressive agenda, the desensitization, and, frankly, the prevalence of mutilation and abuse of minors are rampant in our culture. To be clear: I am speaking to HOW we view the next generation, their ability to be responsible, and how we can coach and guide them to having a higher impact. Interpreting this statement, “Age is Just a Number”, any other way is done so intentionally to skew our vision and desire through this content.
Since the Dawn of Time
Looking down on the next generation is not a new concept. In fact, Aristotle can be quoted saying “[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. They think they know everything and are always quite sure about it.” That was the 4th century B.C. If you are younger and you are reading this, understand that the judgment against you has been levied against all other generations before you. And it is up to us to change that outlook.
I think about my own life and the concept of the law of attraction. While I am no hippie, and I don’t believe you just “manifest” good things into your life, I do believe that our mindset leads us to act, and our actions lead to our outcomes. I simply mean that the times I believed in myself and thought highly of myself, I achieved more. The times when I thought low of myself and told myself I “couldn’t” or “shouldn’t” were the times that I failed. I fell short. Is that a surprise to you? If you find yourself constantly proclaiming how stupid you are, how foolish you are, how much of a failure you are…you will prove yourself correct. I hope that is making sense.
Their Age is Just a Number.
If we speak poorly of the next generation, we ensure our ACTIONS fail them.
If you find yourself constantly belittling the next generation, calling them weak, lazy, unmotivated, or careless, understand that YOU are affecting your actions. And your actions will then ensure the failure of those you spent time judging. If you see them highly and you understand that it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you are an example they can follow, you set them up for success. Just think of this critically: it is easier for you to cast judgement on the younger people around you, than to accept that maybe, just maybe, YOU are not an example worthy of following. It is much more difficult to unwire yourself, your beliefs, your mind, and your vision to lead them well. Spend some time thinking about that.
Are you leading them well? What is leadership if not simply an embodiment of a higher calling, refined discipline, and life worthy of following. You may see leadership as a struggle, something difficult to conquer. While in many cases it certainly will be challenging, at a base level it is simply embodying the traits you know will produce better outcomes. Through doing this you set an example for those who are coming up behind you. Get the point? What you do, what you say, and how you behave matters. Claiming that the next generation is a failure yet forgoing a life of purpose is a failure in itself.
Age is Just a Number.
Trust bestowed, trust withheld.
A large part of becoming a man should be tests, trials, and rites of passage. Celebrations of passage into the next chapters of manhood, surrounded by other men who have gone before. Rites of passage are intentional, they are calculated, scripted, and executed with precision and consistency. They do not just happen. Rites of passage are not on a whim. They are invented and implemented because generations ahead have learned the lessons that generations to come have yet to see. We are to prepare this generation for what they may face, for what we have already faced.
I married my wife at 20 years old. Old enough to be entrusted to the protection of another human, yet too young to purchase a firearm to do so. Old enough to serve the country, vote, drive wherever I chose, or operate heavy machinery, yet too young to defend those I love. They hypocrisy stung, it was incredibly frustrating as a young man. I had hunted since I was 12 years old. I had firearms in my room since around that age. Everyday I descended into the woods on my father’s property with rifles to shoot cans, squirrels, or other critters. I hiked miles back into the vast wilderness of northern Pennsylvania alone for days on end with my Winchester model 70. No supervision was required, and, yet, I find myself a young man, looked down by most who came before me.
Are we inspiring the next generation?
Forgotten history, untold stories
The same people who looked down upon me as a young man, were looked down upon as young men. The irony of it all is what was experienced is fast forgotten. How quickly we fall into the traps of those who came before us! We have a choice to make: We can embrace the same cycle of insanity, hoping for a different outcome for the youth. Or, we can choose to act, to be an example, to trust, to encourage, and to LEAD with intentionality.
Which one leads to success, and which one leads to failure? Where does the risk lie? And what are you willing to do about it now?
Inspiration
More powerful than threats of judgment or coercion, is inspiration. When we inspire action, we garner buy in. Inspiration can happen when we pour into the individual on a one-on-one level, or it can simply happen by the examples we embody. Inspiration is when a person witnesses actions from their own eyes, and decides to pursue in the footsteps of what they see. It is the ultimate galvanizing moment when example and execution meet.
Are we inspiring the next generation? Their age is just a number.
One of my co-workers the other day asked me: “Jared, what is the vision for your life.” I responded simply, “I want to change peoples lives, and I hope to make them realize potential they don’t even realize in themselves.” It took me 32 years to come to that moment of realization: My calling is to inspire the younger version of myself to take action, to OWN his life. No more excuses, no more fear, no more anxiety, no more depression, no more resistance.
“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. They think they know everything and are always quite sure about it.”
What I am asking
In order for me to realize the impact I can have, I have to face my own demons. I have had to rewire my thought processes, who I am and how I behave. If I am to look the 17 year old “me” in the eyes and tell him he is called, and it is his duty to pursue excellence, then I need to embody excellence myself. I cannot lead those forward if I am unwilling to refine myself. Then, in turn, I can look this young man in the face and demand he also face his demons, that he also exhibits courage in the face of life.
I will choose to believe that he is enough, that he is capable. Even when he doesn’t believe in himself, I will choose to believe in him. Not because of what he has done so far, but because of what I know he is capable of doing. For 32 years I had not an ounce of a clue of what my purpose was. Are you in the same boat? I’m going to challenge you to dig deep into that one, to soul search, and desperately find your reason for existing. There is a reason, I promise you. You are called.
Show me, Teach me, Involve Me
“Show me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” – xun kuang
“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain. And most fools do.” – Dale Carnegie
Show me, Teach me, Involve me. Criticize me, condemn me, complain about me, and I will reject you. We are better than this! You and I are called to more than this! Take your life by the reigns and exhibit courageous and intentional leadership. Involve the next generation, invest in them. Imagine a world where we invest in leading them well and we exhibit purposefully the traits we wish for them to pursue and carry on. What difference would intentional example be for the next generation? It removes your excuses, your complaints. Ownership rests the responsibility clearly and squarely on your shoulders. It reminds us that we have a duty to the ones who are coming next. If I cannot trust the next generation, and I find myself judging them and complaining about them, I must remember that I was entrusted to be their example.
Step back, and observe
As we get older, we must prepare for passing the torch. This is inevitable, as our lives are quickly over. Our entire existence is to be an example to prepare to pass the torch. If we have done our job, then we can watch with pride as the next generation carries on our lineage, our example. They become who we taught them to be, they experience all the potential they had. The cycle can be broken, and we can experience a new era of this exchanging of generations. But it requires us to ignite an intentional battle against complacency, fear, and judgement. We must realize that if the upcoming generation fails, it is WE who is to blame, not them.
Imaging what it will feel like to look another young soul in the eyes and declare: “I have led you, I have taught you. Now it is up to YOU to choose. Will you continue on the path towards excellence, or will you fall to a lesser version of yourself? You have what it takes, I believe in you. Now go do this on your own and know that I am proud, and I see you. You have changed me, impacted me. You have what it takes. Now, go. Become better, pursue a calling and a vision.”
How much can we change the world? I’d wager more than we could ever realize. More than votes, or wars, or propaganda. We can have a real impact on the next generation and the world they will create. It simply requires us to act with purpose. But to do that, we first must go deep within to find it in ourselves.
I believe in you, you have to believe in yourself so we can believe in the next generation and set the example.
Their Age is Just a Number
The younger version of me was not limited by his age, he was limited in the lack of belief others had in him. His age was just a number. One we all hold. My maturity and responsibility and capability had nothing to do with how old I was. I wish more people would inspire and trust the next generation, rather than judging them. Maybe we can start that together, maybe we can initiate a real impact. I will leave you with this challenge: When you hear someone judging the next generation, stand up for them. Be their advocate. Ask the hard questions: “What are YOU doing to inspire the next generation?” Don’t take it personal, but do take action to correct it.
And if you are young, I believe in you. You have much work to do, you must learn from the wisdom of those ahead of you, but you do have what it takes. I know that to be true. Your age is just a number. Your potential is not limited by it.
