The issues that we currently face as a planet, country, city, and even as individuals, are vastly different from the ones we faced 40, 20, 10, 5 or even 2 years ago.
On a local level in Buffalo, we are seeing things happen (development, an influx of young professionals, the creation of new businesses) and are facing new sets of challenges and opportunities because of that.
With the passing of time comes the changing of our goals and the subsequent sets of obstacles that we must overcome in order to accomplish them.
As we get older, the world changes as does our understanding of it. This leads to a shift in our priorities and our “pain-points.”
The social pressure that I felt in middle school to ‘fit in and be popular’ now pales in comparison to the financial pressure I feel as a young professional to pay my rent and student loans…and I’m sure this will pale in comparison in 8-18 years if/when I have children and am focused on saving money for tutors, after-school sports and college.
So, what’s my point?
Aging usually comes with the understanding that nothing is permanent.
Our hobbies, fears, goals and stressors – as intense and important as they might feel now – won’t last forever. The sooner we can learn to accept this, the easier it is for us to deal with it when they change by force or by choice.
It’s incredibly important that as we age, and as the circumstances in our lives and the world we live in change, we are able to adapt.
The sooner we can learn to embrace change as an inevitability of life, the better equipped we are to handle, cope with and ideally flourish from change when it presents itself.
