Teenage Wisdom.....

My best friend’s 18 year old son came to her the other day with a newly minted thought and revelation in his incredible intelligent and creative teenage mind.  It went something like this:

Son: Hey mom, I just realized that being a white male from a privileged background, who has had the best education and will come out of college without debt, I hold a lot of power and privilege. 

Mom: Well, yes you do.

Son: It also occurs to me that with this power and privilege, I can help others that don’t have power by giving them opportunities and jobs, encouraging them, giving them a voice and starting to equalize the power differential.

Mom: Yes, it is your responsibility to help people when you are in a position of power.  To respect them and honor them.

Son: Yeah.  Cool. I look forward to doing that.

This gives me so much hope for our future that a young man, unbidden by anyone else, comes to this realization and conclusion.  Granted, he has been raised in an environment of respect, love, service, intuition and intelligence, and I am sure that prompted him to this thought process.  However, this is still a gleaming beacon of hope, at least for me.

Hopefully there are many more young men and women that are coming to these realizations and many other shifts in thought patterns and paradigms.  And, by the young educating us, we can help to equalize power dynamics and to bring increased understanding, peace, care and financial security for all.

And, it made today a really good day….