Mediocrity

Who ever said teenagers don’t have goals? It is amazing what a kid will do for something he wants real badly. Take for instance my son. He has wanted to join the military for years. He is old enough now and has decided to take a practice test. We drop him off at the recruiting center and waited for him to be done with the test. The program he wants takes 31 points to enter into. He makes the grade of 21 points. Ok, so it is not that much of a jump to get to where he needs to be. Only 10 points and he will get the program he wants. Ok so this is my concern. He was so excited to be only ten points from his goal that he will only study hard enough for those 10 points. He will not go further.

Since when is it ok to be mediocre? I don’t understand. I know average people run the world. But he is shooting for just barely average. I have always taught my kids, shoot for the stars. Not get high enough to see the sparkle. I don’t understand why he wants to just make it.
The majority of the teenage population understands that it will take work to attain their future goals. Some just want to float thru life until there is a need to live on their own. A parent can go bald and driven to drink because of lazy and unproductive kids like mine.

Fortunately I have hope. Kids like mine do one day sit up and say “I finally get it!” This is the day the mother and father say “Thank the Good Lord for patience and Advil.” And then they get on a boat headed for that much needed vacation to Alaska.
For those of you who have children like mine take care in knowing, Alaska will always be there. Don’t give up and only take up to four Advil’s a day.

Freedom

I have wondered a lot in the last several years about the freedoms I am supposed to have. I thought I was aloud to make decisions on my own. To be able to say "Do I want to help that person who is holding out a sign for help or sleeping in the street?" That person could be down on his luck, or drinking out of a bottle every time my head is turned. Decisions, decisions???? How about that girl over there. She is pregnant and wants to terminate the pregnancy. Should I pay for it or should I let her? Hmmmmm? Was she raped or did she just play around and get caught? One more, A lot of banks just loaned out a bunch of money to a lot of people they new could not make the payments. Should I be the one to bail them out or should they suck it up and make better decisions next time if they get that chance? Well I thought I would get the freedom to say yes or no. What if i don't want to help, bail out or pay for the death of the unborn child. I have my personal beliefs and I am bound to help or not help based on those beliefs.
Unfortunately the country where I live does not give me the chance to make my own decisions.
Instead the taxes I pay to run this country are given to those who did not plan well or made very bad decisions
When will I be able to choose?