Teenagers are the future of life, the hope of next generations, yet also the most struggling and misbehaving individuals. Teenage years (or adolescence) is also a time where you decide who to be and how to pursue your dreams; however, they always seem to be destroyed as soon as possible. This astounding conflict has been around for quite a while, and isn’t discussed enough. Hence it's clear we need an understanding of the roots of it all. Why is it that at this age all hopes and dreams are crushed into nothing? Why do most teenagers' self respect for their abilities just vanishes?
We could summarize the previous questions about fear, society and their mindsets. For instance, there is the fear of being judged. This example notably induces the mind to overthink, thus pointing out to society for being judgemental. Our mind is the center of all our thoughts, movements, desires, and whose results are very dangerous if used incorrectly. Your mind can change the direction of everything in a matter of seconds, and significantly, dreams. At this age people have yet to understand the power they own within themselves. So for this reason, the same way every dream was formed in the mind, certain disturbing thoughts intrude; hence, the disappointment and abandonment of such.
Moreover, fear tends to take over our mind in a matter of seconds, whether it be for something petty or a grave situation. "Fear can ruin dreams, and furthermore themselves. So if fear can't be avoided, dreams are." - Sofia and Victoria
Usually on the topic of the future, fear plays a huge role in people's lives since it helps determine how you manage it later on. However the problem isn’t just that. People fear things that shouldn't be feared (frighten you) and let that get in the way of, not only your dreams, but the person you really want to be in this life. Fear is labeled as a bad thing, and since it already has that reputation, it's associated and treated as a disruptive emotion. And consequently, fear can also be induced through others depending on what society thinks is appropriate at the moment.
The Main Character has undeniably got to be society. “One thing our society is good at is judging others'' - Victoria and Sofia. No matter if it’s physically or verbally, society seems to be included in any kind of teenage disruption. It’s comical the way that dreams are supposedly something one strives for themselves, yet there is always a way for society to come and determine whether you deserve it or not. It's clear that bringing others down fuels mankind, since it’s all that comes from society’s mind (This embedding a form of violence, which is the midwife to change or keeping the status quo). We’re all broken inside and in a way, judgment has become an escape from people’s own problems. The feeling of not being enough for society beats any other kind of pain throughout adolescence. The will of fitting in is so inspiring that you must stop doing what you dream in order to blend in. Society has broken us all so much, that life is not as pink as it was before (even if life being pink is just an exaggerated metaphor); it just feels like a dark hole as a nonsensical race into approval. Surely, if there were enough willpower within everyone, this could be stopped and start to be who you really are, no matter what because self determination is essential to achieving your success.
This is certainly the age of finding your place in society and that definitely frightens any teenager into making mistakes by trying to reach certain dreams. It seems likely that you can’t control your mind or your fear, but that it's controlled by society. And evidently, there is the great hope that after realizing the root of the problem, a change in adolescence will be made. If we teenagers are the future, we mustn’t let society crush away our imagination that could lead to better generations. The change for future generations to be more of themselves starts with the present and all of the ones suffering from disappointment, fighting for their dreams. We cannot define ourselves by other people’s thoughts.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the future of their dreams” -Eleanor Roosevelt
By: Sofía Lencioni and
Victoria Merchán, Step 9
