Youth - "it is your greatest weapon"

A teaser into Youth magazine & a journey inside a young man's brain

Kids being kids in the streets of Sriracha, Thailand - 2023

Our youth is widely considered to be our 'golden years' where each & every encounter has an impact which weaves itself into the fabric of who we are becoming. Every element from our friendships, relationships, heartbreaks, the thrills & teachings of the unknown—all play their part and leave their mark on us which usually teaches us a thing or two (or three) on some fundamental characteristics such as resilience, empathy, emotional intelligence and the alchemy of change all of which are essential for this thing we call life..

Youth is a time when we feel as curious as a cat and as vibrant as a zebra, a time when the world literally invites & greets you into its arms with a golden ticket like a scene out of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

As life goes on it doesn't really take too long for us to realise just how dystopian the world can be sometimes - as true as this is, there is usually enough positive reminders around us that say: "Yo, take a bite of this, dive into that, and chase down those wild dreams you had last night! Don’t let fear or doubt hold you back—you're young man! You may not know exactly where you’re headed but remember that failure isn’t defeat, it’s the fuel for growth. So go all in—say yes to everything and make it happen!"

Look, I never heard those exact words but it was similar! Trust me!

I am in my late 20's and like many others in this world, I am currently working full time in a bid for financial stability - I work within a team of 9 others who are older than me and their ages range from 35 to 61.

There was this one Wednesday afternoon where I found myself in a Teams meeting with my colleagues when I suddenly felt very... well.. lets say out of it, dazed & confused and mentally detached from the dialogue of this meeting as I was daydreaming of something that was the furthest thing away from the meeting agenda items.

My team & I had to introduce ourselves to a new senior colleague who asked us each to share a brief little introduction about ourselves - she wanted us to focus on 3 key things: who we were, what we liked to do outside of work and what our biggest 'superpower' at work was - quite a cool little trio of questions to ask I must say - she definitely brought the good energies which we all needed that day.

As the responses went around the room I naturally prepared an answer in my mind but as I started do so, I caught myself constantly repeating the same question "what the hell is my super power?"

It was a great question, something I had never been asked about in my life so answering it proved to be harder than I expected..

We all have one though right?

Whether we are aware of it or not, all of us possess a quality that we are quite proficient in, but one that I would consider a superpower? Nope. I was lost.

Here it was! My turn to speak had been bestowed upon me - I somehow, some way found myself pretty capable of answering it as I muttered:

"My superpower is my ability to make strong connections with my colleagues which flows into order, teamwork & dedication to achieve our team & organizational goals" which I thought was quite corny & generic the moment it left my lips.

As the meeting continued on, I found myself deep in thought even more than I already was & as it ended - I was left intrigued as I questioned my response over and over again..

After hours of rumination & philosophical backchat my response suddenly shifted, rapidly.

I was finally done over-contemplating with the voice in my head and alas!! My new superpower was "my youth" - this was something I had, something I possessed, something I capitalize on everyday. Perfect..

But how did this shift occur?

Each time I find myself in the presence of those who have journeyed further along the path of time, I am met with their amused disbelief if I dare speak of the struggles or uncertainties of 'growing up.'

The response is always the same—a burst of laughter, followed by words that echo like ancient wisdom:

'You think you’re getting old? Ha! Oh, spare me—your youth is a treasure you can't yet fathom. You have no idea the power you hold. Savor it, for it slips away faster than you think, my friend.'

Was this response I was receiving directly related to my age?

Or is there something else we can relate it to?

This is a topic I will forever be unpacking within my inner dialogue and this is the reason I wrote this, to briefly discuss what it means to be young & to understand why age plays such an important role in our lives...

I once thought that being young had to do with nothing other than your age, which technically it sort of does however as the years went by I slowly realized that our 'Youth' is less about our age and more about our energy.

The fact of the matter is that as when we age, so to do our bodies which seemingly slow down much faster than our 'energy' or ‘aura’ and whilst I can't ignore that fact, I can confidently say that when I witness a person who is dripping of youthful energy - I’m suddenly completely oblivious to their age, their wrinkles or their physical limitations – it starts to have less and less of an impact on my distinction between what it means to be 'youthful' & age.

As I continue to learn the in's and out's of those people who possess an enormous ability to remain so engaged in life, almost in a playful manner; the never ending question of what age means to us constantly plays in my head.

So far from what I can tell, those who say we “come into this world as babies and leave the exact same we came out” are unapologetically correct! 

Our youth might begin with age but as we 'get older' it certainly lives on in our aura which is how I like to define the word 'Youth' - to me it is a mindset and energy that keeps your spirit endlessly alive and receptive to the dreams, magic & utopia that life sometimes offers.

All of the conformist ideas & societal pressures of growing up are quite skewed in my opinion, they don't mean much to me even though I might be a slave to the very society that created them.

It is 2024 and the world as we know it now is quite fast paced & demanding which only further stresses the importance to remain ‘child-like’ for the simple fact that it is regarded by many as the essence of growing up gracefully.

My discussions might sound contrarian sometimes right? But have you ever just felt the extremely powerful aura of someone elderly before? Chances are that your answer would be yes, yes you have - I met one once, in a nursing home who is 90 going on 21 with more humor and positivity than I have ever witnessed.

She is always able to share a wealth of knowledge & if I was to ask her something on this topic I would receive a response that we all ought to be inspired by - people as such are a true reflection of the fact that thinking young can keep you young, regardless of your physical limitations & age.

These individuals seem to radiate youthfulness, embrace change well, are emotionally flexible, mentally stimulating all the while possessing a very strong understanding of resilience...

This 'aura' I am talking about is a kind of energy that literally shines brighter than the sun and it does not come being 'young' in years, rather it stems from simply engaging with life in with a different approach. You can often feel their optimism holds no boundaries; it brings endless possibilities and a million mysteries.

Anyway, those age limitations, they really do play a part in the whole aging process though dont they?

At a certain time in your life you find that the physical & biological side of ‘growing up’ start to show up like an uninvited guest at a party and our limitations start to speak for themselves which is an indication that we slowly have less of a say in what we can do about it.

That’s life I guess hey?

Brain fog? Check.

Sore Back? Check.

Can’t remember what you ate for breakfast? Check.

Excuses for things that you use to literally jump out of your chair for? Check.

Your knees suddenly develop this concerning noise every time you bend down? Big check.

I mean seriously, you can’t tell me our bodies don’t start having mental breakdowns and little protests from time to time right?

This will occur no matter how ‘youthful’ your energy or spirit may feel & be for that matter, like alright, I definitely feel 16 again sometimes but I can certainly hear my back and knees yelling “stop right there mate, don’t get too excited” which with no surprise suddenly effects my physical aptitude.

So even though I might wake up feeling 16 again, the in's and out's of the ‘daily grind’ will get to us and for most of us who are living in machine-like societies that grind looks like a little bit like this: getting tired & ready to sleep which is then followed by waking up, putting on our clothes, preparing food, going to work, spending money to go to work, transiting around & maybe fitting in time for a leisurely walk if we have enough energy to do so after we finish work and as we do this day in, day out - we find ourselves quite mentally exhausted from time to time.

The same goes for our bodies, it’s a fact! The trillions of cells and muscles fibers that make up our bodies can’t just regenerate and work as they always have or how they used to! They have lifespans too.

But should we let these mental & physical limitations keep us down if we are lucky enough to fix or prevent them? I will let you answer that..

So anyway, enough with the questions, enough with the micro-negativity?

Do I have anything good to say about growing up?

Yep! There is a thing called illusion and even the smartest minds among us can be immensely fooled by it so if you can use it to your advantage, do it.

Do what you can to trick yourself. You never know - it might just be the kick up the ass you’ve always needed.

How do I know you may ask? Well... I don’t entirely know, it’s a work in progress but I must say, it is somewhat working for me.

Life has a wide range of elements that can aid us with maintaining a 'youthful spark' about us and whilst we can engage in those elements to help provide the good vibes to our cells and muscle fibers - this can help turn around the clock sometimes though they probably wont ever go back to their prime but they sure will appreciate the pep talk!

The pep talk?

Well for me, it is a bit of TLC which sometimes works a treat and the ingredients for me personally are as follows: write, read, stay active, eat healthy food most of the time, be aware of the habits I indulge in (physically and mentally), have a laugh with most things, kick the football often, socialize enough, avoid taking life too seriously & try to put the finger up to stress and tell it where to go as best as I can!

I am just going to be honest to myself here, it is easier said than done because whilst it usually works for me, there are a lot of times where even if I give it a good try and conjure up the perfect mixed recipe of all of my TLC ingredients, the finish product never comes out as expected no matter how good it smells in the oven.

I guess I just try it out and say “let the man cook!” let him cook I say and let’s see what comes out! Failure or success, cook it up.

Grown up kids playing Checkers in Hanoi, Vietnam - 2023

Written by Kevin Anderson on the 7th of November, 2024 for Melbourneism