7 Indignities of Youth
Elders flaunt the indignities of their youth to validate their superiority to younger generations.
50 years ago you could listen to your neighbors’ phone conversations on the party line. The trimline phone was an innovation. The closest thing to privacy was a long telephone cord that allowed you to hide in the hall closet and whisper to your friends.
Life was hard.
When I was young the Internet wasn’t even a twinkle in DARPA’s eye. I guess we can thank the military for email and TCP/IP. Social media was passing notes in school. Facetime was Dick Tracy’s sci-fi watch.
Image source: Dick Tracy Tweets, after Chester Gould | Mike Licht
7 Indignities of my youth:
- Spellcheck was Webster’s Dictionary.
- Searching online was the World Book Encyclopedia.
- Eating breakfast and dinner as a family every day.
- Raw milk, red meat, eggs from chickens not the store.
- Paper maps.
- TV’s had rabbit ears and tin foil.
- 10,000 steps a day was achieved by getting up to change the TV channel. (There were three choices.)
My youngest son experienced his own indignities of youth. He had to get off the Internet to use the phone. Our dial-up modem pumped information at 14.4 kilobytes per second (Not megabytes or gigabytes).
Life is hard. The benefits of difficulty include:
- Personal growth.
- Empathy.
- Adaptability.
- Grit.
- Gratitude.
- Humility.
- Work ethic.
Every generation whines about its own indignities. Difficulty makes some delightful and others repulsive. The way you face challenges shapes who you become.
PTG (Post Traumatic Growth) shows up in five ways.
- Appreciation of life.
- Relationships with others.
- New possibilities in life.
- Personal strength.
- Spiritual change.
Tip: One key to PTG is meaning-making. Reflect on who you are becoming based on your responses to the indignities of life.
What do life’s indignities teach us?
How might you maximize your current experience for growth?
Still curious:
Tom Rath on Getting the Most From Adversity
4 Surprising Times to Express Gratitude
Why Purpose Matters: The 7 Powers of Purpose
Excellent! Simple reminders ground us.
Thank you, Lorri. Cheers.
That what doesn’t kill you does not necessarily make you stronger.
Some are crushed by adversity. That is purpose of community.
Soooooo very true. Love this Dan!
I haven’t touched base with you in a while, but as is probably the case with many readers — I start my workday with Leadership Freak and always find something to make me smile or think deeper. This was definitely a smile day. Enjoy Everyone!!
Thanks Mary Ellen. It’s a pleasure to be useful. Thanks for touching base today. Steady on!
This is so true! I recently told a 30-something colleague, “The internet did not exist when I was in high school.” She looked at me so oddly. While tech makes life easier, it also complicates things. A mistake or gaffe made in the 1980s was noticed and remembered (perhaps) by those who saw it. Now it gets posted on the internet for all to see. The lack of tech in my younger years led to research at the library, using actual books. While much more tedious than using Google or Google Scholar, this exercise taught me patience, determination, and an attention to detail.
Thanks Rosemarie. I remember the library. The smell is intoxicating. I still love the feel of a real book. But, I love being about to search with my kindle. Oh, it’s a rough life. 🙂
This is a great reflection, Dan. What I sense is that the world keeps moving faster and patience really is a virtue. I remember overnight deliveries and fax machines and thought those innovations were pretty cool. My career started with microcomputers and floppy disks – no hard drives. What a difference today. It would be nice if the pace of life slowed down for a bit so we could appreciate the contributions of each generation.
Thanks Lisa. So true. The pace of change is staggering. You wonder where we are going with such speed. Onward and upward.
PS our first computer had a 40meg hard drive. The salesperson said we wouldn’t fill it in our lifetime.
The world needs to share Technology and teach each other what works the best to help in Healthcare. Education and human well being.
There are no winners in war.
I like to move at my pace and steady to the finish.
I remember the old Black rotary wall phone in the Kitchen the cord was 6′, there was no privacy…..LOL
Ironically little did I know one day I would be installing them and repairing them…how cool?
Now it’s wireless, plug and play, throw away.
There was a time when the phone company came to your house to install phones. The installers had cool toolbelts!
Pace is a topic that needs more reflection these days. Cheers.
Dan, these comments bring back memories.
— Spellcheck was Webster’s Dictionary.
–Searching online was the World Book Encyclopedia.
Be open and flexible. Adapt to the new approaches.
Find the right mentors to help you with your learning curve.
Thanks Paul. You remind me of the expression, “Reverse mentoring.” Get young people to teach you. Learning keeps you vigours and relevant.
My grandmother was born in July 1903. When she passed away at 100, the rabbi giving the eulogy pointed out that she was born before the first flight at Kitty Hawk and had become a world traveler.
Lovely, Jennifer. Those of us who have some mileage on the odometer couldn’t imagine the things we would enjoy today. How far we have come.