Teenagers are a very strange lot. Do you have a teenager about in the house? Or maybe you have two or more? Either way, you can observe a very strange set of behaviour manifesting itself at various points in the year. Ask a teenager to get up of their free will, and frequently you will find that many of them have a struggle. They get to school late and can’t get up on time. They complain about how little sleep they have had. They are late to school. Yet in the school holidays, you will find that they get up earlier in the mornings than they would have if they had school, possibly because they are keen to use their free time to go out with friends. Or maybe they may have gotten up early despite going to bed in the wee hours of the morning because they want to resume what it is that they were doing before they went to bed. It may be an Instagram chat. It may be a computer game. But what this all points to is that when there is something worth waking up for, we will all do our damnednest to get up for it.
What can adults take from this? Some suggest that one lesson we can all learn is that we should all have meaningful jobs, ones that we can get excited about. Perhaps it is making a change in someone’s life, as a teacher or a counsellor. Maybe it is one that gives us a sense of purpose, like a research scientist working on stopping cancer. Or maybe it is one what allows us to have most impact, and control, such as in influencing the world around us and giving us a sense of being in touch with the real world.
So work on finding that dream job, one that gives you purpose in life. When you have that purpose, it will sustain you and give you meaning and will to get up in the morning!
The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was passionate about reviving English music in the 20th century and it gave him meaning and sustained his creative drive in his work. You can read more about him from the Piano Teacher Hornsey N8 blog. Vaughan Williams had a career that lasted many decades – truly if you find something you believe in, it will keep you going and you will see yourself as not having enough time to finish all the things you want to do. A better alternative than counting down the hours at work!