dad! i know better..

there comes in time in almost every kid's life where they will find their parents annoying. for some, it started when they insist on sending you to school even after your 14th birthday, for some, it's their constant nagging at your mess of a room, for some, it is the constant doubts they have over things you say, the list goes on. for some of us, that period came and gone quickly, for some, it wasn't that fast. for some, it hasn't end, and it just might not end.

how often do we wish they would leave us alone, that we know better what is right and what's good for us. some of us wish it silently with a smile on our face, some choose to ignore totally, many other choose to react with a lot of angst, to prove to the older people that indeed we are not mature enough to communicate properly. i remember the days when i myself snap back at anything i perceive as a nag.

not that i am a really filial and nice son, but i do believe i came a long way. i look back and wonder, why do we get annoyed in the first place? why dont parents trust us to live our own lives? our proven limited knowledge always tells us that we are right at that point in time. more often than not, we prove that we are indeed too sure of ourselves.  parents nag only because you have shown that you are capable of doing something without their reminders, they don't trust you because you have not done anything to show that you earn the trust. human nature causes us to look for blame everywhere else except looking at ourselves.

recently, a friend of mine, called me really out of the blue, just to chat and to share his concerns about his kid. it was really weird he called me, someone who is unmarried and far from having a kid, must less a kid in the angsty period of their life. as much as he likes to give freedom to his kid, his kid doesnt seem to be able to handle the freedom. whenever he talks about his concerns, the kid gets angsty pretty much because he thinks that he knows it well enough to decide for himself. i couldnt really offer much of an advice, but that got me thinking about how i was once like this too...

death of conversation?

so i was at one of the restaurant, waiting for an opportunity to carry out the surveys i need to do. observing the different tables, it's just a pity that people eat together and yet, they dont talk to each other anymore.

a middle age couple with their teenage son, barely a word shared between the two parents, not a word from the son. kinda reminds me of someone else at that age group.

an elderly couple, enjoying the food, maybe so much that not a word was shared during the meal.

another couple was engaging in conversation, their teenage daughter fished out her phone and spent the entire meal staring at it.

it seems like we are entering an era whereby people don't bother talking to one another anymore. i certainly had my fair share of experience. eating with people that dont bother contributing to a conversation, with people that prefers spending time with the phone or some other activity.

why do they bother meeting up at all? isnt meeting up about spending time with the person you are with?

saying this, it was nice to see groups still enjoying the company they are with. a dad and toddler chatting happily, two male colleagues sharing a lot of laughters.

well, i do suppose it isnt all hopeless just yet..

the power of promises

somewhere people still make and keep promises. they choose not to quit when the going gets rough because they promised once to see it through. they stick to lost causes. they hold on to a love grown cold. they stay with people who have become pains in the neck. they still dare to make promises and care enough to keep the promises they make. i want to say to you that if you have a ship you will not desert, if you have people you will not forsake, if you have causes you will not abandon, then you are like God. With one simple word of promise, a person creates an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.

lewis smedes