“Green Grass and High Tides Forever”

This is the hook from the Outlaws’ megahit which the seniors at Virginia Tech used to sing loudly as we drifted down the New River on inner tubes. Today’s seniors may sing a different tune, but the message is probably the same. We all truly believed that the good times were just beginning. After all, we would soon be college graduates and the world our oyster. Armed with our freshly-printed degrees and the accompanying knowledge of the secrets of the universe, we were going to take the workforce by storm. Nothing could stop us.

Of course, life had other plans. It humbled us through promotions and demotions, hirings and firings. On and on we took the blows that life had to give – and sooner or later most of us realized that, as our parents and others from the previous generation had warned us, the green grass and high tides don’t last forever. After a few years of life experience we also started to realize that the generation that came before us, whom we had regarded at times as lame, fun-averse old fogeys, were actually incredibly strong people with a great deal of valuable life experience who might just have some good advice for us as we dealt with life’s ups and downs.

As I frequently interact and talk with young people in the workplace, and with my millennial-age daughter, I’m reminded of a comment my mom made recently. After hearing about the trials and tribulations of another granddaughter who is about to finish college she said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Every generation likes to think they were different from the ones before and after them, she continued, but at the end of the day we tend to realize that were just as carefree and reckless as our kids when we were young, and will probably tell the darn kids to get off our lawns just as much as our parents when we are old.

I’m not going to deny the different experiences faced by each generation, especially given the dramatic changes in technology over the last 30 years, but I believe that deep down we’re more similar than we are different. So I’m going to take a shot here and offer some lessons I’ve learned to some of the young people out there to help prepare you for the life ahead.

• Live life one day at a time
• Respect your elders, as you too will get old someday
• Treat others how you would like to be treated
• Always, always believe in yourself no matter how tough the situation
• Don’t worry about what others think
• Always try to look for the good in people; you will be surprised how often you will find it
• Value your family above all else
• Don’t buy into stereotypes, for yourself or for others
• Let people give you a chance to show you who they are

The most valuable piece of advice I can give is a little bit of tough love. Sometimes when I’m going through a particularly tough situation I will vent about it to my mother. She hears me out, but once I’m done she looks me straight in the eye and says firmly, “That’s life. Now what are you going to do about it?”

Sometimes we all need that firm, strong voice telling us it’s time to stop complaining and take action.

Have a great weekend,

Ro