To everyone under 21

No you CAN NOT be whatever you want to be when you grow up... Just because you want to does not mean that you should, can or will. I am fed up with the attitude of todays youth which my generation and those before me are responsible for teaching them.

The truth is, and I do believe this, we all have the potential to be anything that we are willing to work to become. But is it sonly by kicking and screaming and working your tail off that you can, should or will get there. Wanting to be simply is not enough. No one is going to walk up and hand you anything... We do not live in a sitcom. We live in real life and those things in life that are truley worth having are worth working for.

So whether you want to be a doctor, go to the state track meet or just loose 10 lbs. You have been lied to. Wanting it is not enough. In my life I am one of the worst when it comes to conviction. There are many things that I would love to have, be, and or accomplish that frankly I don't have the drive to do them... But I also acknowledge that I am the only one to blame for the things I don't have. I have chosen the life before me, through the choices that lie behind me... And if I desire a life different than the one I have created I must make the choices and sacrfices that are needed to get there.

Jesus asked the rich young ruler to give up all that he had... not because there is something wrong with money but because Jesus new that money was standing between the life the man had and the life the man wanted... Unfortuantely the rich young ruler wanted the money more than he wanted a life with Christ.

So let me ask you... What do you WANT and what are you willing to do to get it.

Let me also clarify that I am not saying that all is fair in love and war and that you should do anything to get where you want to go... I am smart enough and talented enough that I could have been one of the greatest thiefs of our time, but I also know that the things I value most in this life are not worth the risk involved. In a lot of ways I love to gamble, but I refuse to gamble with my life and my family.

I would love to be an author and an artist, but not at the loss of my family. I have chosen what is most important to me... To make a difference in the world, by being a teacher and who knows maybe down the road I will find the conviction to accomplish some of the other things in my life.