51 Comments

I’d have to say no. Maybe physically youth is on the precipice of perfection. But that’s awfully impermanent. Emotionally and intellectually it’s more of a nightmare for them, isn’t it? All the confidence in the world but making terrible decisions, off-reads on situations that lead to regrettable outcomes and permanent cringe memories. Youths a tough run, brother!

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I very much so agree with this.

Perfection and impermanence is what sparks the fires of fear because anyone who believes they've reached the peak of excellence then is anxious about the high fall.

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To be young is a choice of mindset. Also a great way to stay mentally fit ✌️

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Totally agree !

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And I can tell you from experience that to be old is to be teetering on the precipice.

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RIGHT ON. I do not like being OLDER. all my joints hurt.. and I don't have to tell you.. xoxo have a good one. or try. At least I can still walk... !! :) and DRIVE.. that is a big one.. losing driving. I have several friends who NO LONGER DRIVE and they are in their 60s

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I really like this. Thank you for writing and posting it. Presently I am reading a book called "The End of Christian Life: how embracing our mortality frees us to truly live" by J. Todd Billings. This article had a conversation with this book in my mind. That sounds silly, but I don't know how to else to write it. This blessed me. Thank you. I too had dreams of being a successful (according to the world) author but that wasn't meant to be my path. Instead I read your article and this book and write a study and questions to discuss and share with a group of lovely adults Sunday morning after church. And it is good. As the psalmist writes in Psalm 103:15-16, "as fir man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and it's place knows it no more."

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Amen my sister. :)

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Perfectionism operating through wisdom translates to expressing oneself through a high standard while knowing when to let go and when it's valuable to push further.

Perfectionism operates from controlling.

Wisdom operates from allowing.

I don't think it has anything to do with youth or mindset. It has all to do with the degree to which our trauma is healed.

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an interesting response..

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Babies: Jim Gaffigan says children are the only things that come out of us that we keep. Deep!

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On the contrary, perfection only comes with age

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Not in this flesh.

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I'm glad the sentiment was fleshed-out in a much more interesting way in this article (well the snippet in this article), because the byline had me wheezing.

Here's the trick for those of us prone to rate ourselves against our idols. Pick one that's still alive, and still creating, that's at least a couple years older than you. Now, no matter what, you have nothing to feer from [age.whatever], because [your.hero] is still out there kicking ass! You're welcome.

I'll note that this fairly simple ego hack somehow eluded me until I'd passed well put of the "youth" bracket, if that says anything about how almost perfect I wasn't.

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As I always like to say, the older we get the more “young” people there are. When I was 27, a 36-year-old wasn’t “young” but now that I’m in my 60s a 36-year-old definitely is. It’s all relative. Remember there are examples of great first novels written well after one’s thirties. https://www.thoughtco.com/bestselling-authors-who-debuted-after-age-50-4047864

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WOW. gotta go.. HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY.

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Has there ever been perfection?

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How do you feel about the cross?

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Jesus! YEP.. you know it

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How do you feel about the cross?

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I really enjoyed this piece!

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Also on the precipice of ignorance. Life experience is still ahead!

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But never quite reaching it! Oh, the foolishness of youth.

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why do you give me this crap when I did not sign up for it. How do I remove this extraneous posting

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"This is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

~Janet Mills, Governor of the US State of Maine, est. 1820

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