Forever Young, The Outtro
/Controlled emotional response.
I want to thank everyone for their submissions. Far exceeding my expectations. My takeaways; accept maturity but don't be too serious. Stay youthful but be dignified.
#ForeverYoung
“Seek to do at least one thing, every day, to improve your mental, spiritual, physical and fiscal well-being and you shall remain forever young.”
“ Countless dreams have probably been squashed because a young person was told “you will never be able to do that, or that makes no sense at all.””
“How do we advocate for all involved and support just resolution and not supporting acts of vengeance, while at the same time not abandoning God’s call upon us to care for the lost and the least?”
“So one day while walking, he asked did I want to be his girlfriend. I said sure, he was cute and I really liked him so I was jumping for joy, but I had to play it cool you know how it was.”
“Kids are not adults and adults are not kids...”
“Many take for granted what others may not have during their childhood, such as having both parents, fine clothes, cars and a roof over your head. These are life experiences that not everyone has.”
“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that if and when the time comes for me to have my own “youths”, I’ll empower them to be independent and self-aware.”
“My legacy will make no mention of a killer
My neck will not hang from a vine in history’s mist
The stars align to the frequency of my breathing pattern
I will persist because I am infinite.”
“One thing that stuck out to me was Batman’s background. Batman grew up as an orphan after having his parents violently taken away right in front of him. Bruce Wayne didn’t have the “happy family” background of Superman. ”
“Youth is defined as the period between childhood and maturity. I would define it as the time when self-realization is actualized. During our childhood we are basically a reflection of what our parents and guardians teach us to be. ”
“Teenage love is a peculiar thing. For many, it is one’s true love. Those intense and exciting, always-on-my-mind kind of feelings that will last forever and ever, if you let a young person tell it. While there are significant relationships afterward, teenage love is hardly forgotten.”
“My relationship with her is unique in that I’ve always wanted to be like my grandmother. Gracious, stylish and regal with a touch of feistiness. Even now at 34, I can “sit at her feet” and talk to her about ANYTHING. ”
“This was my lesson in forgiveness. I could only heal if, and only if, I forgave the person who hurt the most!”
“I think about my two teenage daughters and pray that they make wise decisions, but also revel in the wonderment of being young and carefree! I’m guilty of telling them to “grow up!” when I deem it appropriate. What I’ve come to understand is, that period between childhood and maturity… it’s exactly where they should be.”
“I was out of bound,
I crawled and I flapped,
My wings beat with a rush,
Into the night sky,
I had just needed a push.”
“Now instead of Navy Pier, Lake Shore Drive, The Magnificent Mile, Deep Dish Pizza, Italian Beefs, and Mild Sauce the city is known for gun violence.
Now, the city remembers Antonio Smith, Lil JoJo, Kenos Glass, Hadiya Pendleton, and Jonylah Watkins
RIP”
“So young hearts be free. Once grown, one can never go back. Embrace youth. Like I warned my daughter Christina, don’t be so in a hurry to grow up, cause you gotta figure that you will be older way longer than its opposite.
Or so I’ve heard. ”
“Playing outside until the street lights came on and the bats came out. Hearing mothers calling their young-ens “come inside! wash up and eat.” At times there were as many as fifteen kids outside, especially on a summer night in the Valley.”
“Although it’s a huge difference between now and then’s youth, we do have to consider not all “traditions” will continue. Everyone has their own intake of what youth means, it’s just the matter of putting the YOU in youth. What’s your personal definition of youth?”
“There’s a big difference between “innocence” and “youth”. We were young, but not innocent. We were not ignorant of the things we may or may not have been sheltered from.”
“To live a life with no regrets is not an easy path. It indicates a level of gratefulness that’s not always accessible, particularly with today’s focus on instant gratification. It also means that every day is treated as a lesson to be better and to improve on what you were without over analyzing what you could have been.”
“Basketball in the park, pool parties, lighter diets and freer clothing. Less concerned with the state of the world and more about how it could or should be. I was raised by Roanoke but it was time to leave.
Forever Young, accept growing up as inevitable. ”
“I had a talk with my younger self, but it didn’t go the way you think it might. I didn’t give her words of wisdom about not wasting time, seizing opportunities or living without fear. I didn’t tell her NOT to pursue things with that troubled light skin boy or that mysterious and talented guy is really just a loser with a bushel of untapped potential he will never turn into anything. No. We didn’t talk about any of that. ”
