The troubles of a young male teen: Waiting for Enlightenment
Some people say, the moment teen-hood sets upon you, then your troubles flee away. Truth is, I made that up and it is in fact the very opposite, especially for your parents.
Why is it that nature has so accurately and carefully
aligned the number of your years and your grouchy and bad-mannered attitude to
life in such a way that it becomes something so expected, predictable and well-documented,
yet so dreaded by adults everywhere? Why is it not something embraced with open
arms and celebrated with parties in all cultures (e.g. Bar Mitzva)? In my
opinion, it is because of 2 main reasons.
- Where did my baby go? All of a sudden, the cute, innocent face of childhood has turned into a cunning, scheming youth who sets his own agenda, requirements and methods of achieving them. Without warning, his (or her) brain has changed, grown more neurons (or lost some perhaps).
- I’m the boss. The new teen has little or no regard for authority, basic common-courtesy or understanding of the laws of the universe (e.g. time keeps moving forward, for every action there is a reaction and consequences) and the fact that there are other persons sharing their existence on planet earth.
So essentially, there is little to no reason for an actual
celebration – in fact, it could be a time
of frustration and pain.
 |
| Sometimes the yelling stops. |
My definition of a Teen is one who has the physical body of
an adult but the underdeveloped brain of a child. The muscular and skeletal
systems have gone ahead and left the two hemispheres in the dust to catch up
only many years later. In the meantime, what you are left with is called a
Teenager – an unpredictable, sporadic,
irresponsible human-being which walks the earth, selfishly looking for ways to
solve only the most short-term personal problems, addicted to Spotify and Clash
Royale and constantly grumbling that he’s being
unreasonably forced to keep his room clean and sleep early.
I get it, I was once a teen. It was a fun and confusing time
of self-discovery. Enlightenment comes to people at different ages, after which
you should have a better grasp on what you think your real skills and interests
are, what your long-term goals are and a rough idea what needs to be done to
get there. You should also, hopefully, have a determination to achieve that
without your mum having to shout at you at the top of her voice on a daily
basis.
Until Enlightenment Day, it’s messy
rooms and lots of yelling.