Disclaimer: This is in no way directed toward any one person or groups of persons... I just posted a status on Facebook, and the conversation which ensued really made me think about this and/or hit home with me.
Today, I am twenty-five years old. My life up to this point, has been fairly simple. I am what I consider to be an "elegant" country-bumpkin. I'm a country girl, backwoods style at heart who still knows her way around the city and enjoys aspects of both extremes.
I grew up a little differently than a lot of kids. My parents homeschooled me up until my mom could no longer teach me, and we didn't know other homeschoolers in the area who could take over my tutelage. My dad worked swing shifts, and when he was home during the days of summer, he would usually be sleeping or working his and my mom's garden. My dad owns about 3 acres of property. Maybe 1 to 1.5 acres were covered with our home, yard, and any pets we kept. When I was 13, my grandfather moved a trailer on to the property behind our house. Everything else was (and is today) a garden. Before a garden it was a cotton field that Dad's grandfather owned. My fondest memories of my childhood involved the outdoors, playing games outside, running with my dog(s), hunting with my dad. The least liked ones were working in the garden, though there were other things I enjoyed more. I had chores that were mandatory. And I didn't get an allowance until I was in highschool. The allowance I got then was strictly for lunches at school in the event we didn't have time to make it, or if I wanted to save it for something else, I could.
As you can imagine, when I was about 18 or 19 years old, I happened to be listening to a preacher at my church. He made a statement about how "when I was a boy, I used to run and play outside... kids these days don't, they just sitting at home playing video games..." I of course wondered what in the world he was talking about. As I looked around the room, I realized two things:
- I was the youngest there (Sunday school class).
- Out of all of these people, I was most likely the only one who did not own, nor had I ever owned, an XBox, Wii, or Nintendo gaming system. The only "gaming" I'd ever done was on my Gameboys...
I don't really understand the attraction to laying back and pressing X, Y, A, B all day... or watching episode after episode after epis...you get the picture... But then again, I can understand a little. When I was 17, I left highschool and took my GED. During the rest of that year, and part of the one following, I felt directionless. I didn't do very much. When I remember back to that year...it's pretty much 'blank'. I remember watching TV all - day - long... Because to me, I had nothing else to do. I had no where to be. No friends to really go and hang out with, whether because I didn't get out enough, or because all the friends I had were in South Carolina because that's where I went to highschool. It took a lot of work to drag myself back from the vegetative state I purposely went into. So that's why I can say I "don't understand". It hurts to look back on that time and know that I could've done so much more.
I am not saying that everyone who games or is otherwise obsessed with media madness is like I was back then. As a matter of fact, I think that they are often quite the opposite. But my point here is that if you are one of those people who gets home from work, sits down, games/TVs the rest of the evening, I get it. I understand that this stuff (games especially) give a false sense of "I did something today... yes, I rescued a PRINCESS!!" But you can find a sense of accomplishment elsewhere as well. I really want to encourage you to do that... I feel so much better at the end of a day when I've been cleaning my house than when I've sat on my butt going, "Dad gum... how do I BEAT this guy!!??"
Go enjoy the weather.
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