Transitioning: Older Teens and Young Adults
In this blog I commonly write to young teens, but today I am writing to older teens or young adults....and their parents. Once a child turns eighteen, some issues change and some stay the same. This can be difficult for both the young adult and the parents. Now that my own daughter is eighteen, has graduated high school, is gainfully employed and going to our local State College, yet living at home, there have been some learning moments.
One of the biggest challenges for parents of teens 18 and older is that, legally, your child is considered an adult. Unless your teen has been “held over” and remains in custody of the court or Children’s Services (usually until age 21), your child can legally decide where to live, vote, sign a lease and other legal contracts, and on and on. This can pose problems if your child is living at home.
Parents often hear, “I’m an adult now; you can’t tell me what to do”, and "i can't wait to get out of here". In some ways, this is true. Your child is now responsible for his or her own actions. A fistfight with peers previously might have resulted in suspension from school or grounding at home. Now, it can be considered assault, with possible criminal charges. Young adults engaging in sexual relationships with minors aged 15 or younger can be charged with statutory rape or other sexual misconduct. It can be tough for young adults to understand that, while their parent no longer controls them, their parent cannot protect them from their own actions either. This includes poor decisions.
So what to do? As always, it is important to remember that every teen develops individually. Also, every teen develops in different areas at different rates, and we know that some parts of the brain, especially those involved in decision making and self-control, don’t finish growing until roughly age 25. A young lady who looks fully-grown at 18 might still be very immature emotionally. It helps to discuss the teens strengths and growth areas or limitations. A young woman who is old enough to go to college may still need to have her bank account supervised by a parent. A young man who has just turned eighteen but who is responsible enough to work and pay bills may be ready to move out on his own- with help...from Parents. Even though the law views each young adult as being the same, each individual really is different.
Young Adults Out In The World
Young adults often struggle with feeling confident and ready to tackle the challenges of the real world. It can help to know that there is some kind of safety net. A young adult out on her own might still need to come home to get help with a problem, or to eat a home-cooked meal. It is important, though, to work out boundaries to help that young person continue to progress. Coming home to do laundry should also include bringing her own detergent, or helping around the house while the spin cycle is going. Dropping off baskets of clothes for the Laundry Fairy (MOM!) to take care of while she watches TV, Skypes, or goes out with friends is probably not a system that will work for long.
Young Adults Living At Home
Old enough to vote? Old enough to get a job and help with bills!
Taking classes at college? Smart enough to know when the garbage needs to go out (without constant nagging).
The young adult should help to offset the cost of the food and shelter parents provide, just like in the real world. Parents may decide to charge rent, but even if you do not, a young adult living at home should take on more adult tasks and responsibilities. This helps your young adult to keep growing. Helping pay for groceries,auto insurance, cell phone bills, and taking more responsibility with chores are great ways to do this. Paying for repairs to the vehicle that was purchased, or being paid for by the parents, is a great learning opportunity. Parts costs vary, labor costs are high, and they might as well learn now how to arrange for car repairs. Cell phone broke, and want a new one? Now is a good time to learn how much phone you need and can afford. It is important that these expectations of what or what portion of the expenses the young adult is to pay for is clearly defined. To the exerts possible they should be mutually agreed to by both parent and young adult.
“I don’t have to report to you!”
They’re right: As an adult, your young person is no longer your responsibility in terms of where they are or what they’re up to while they’re out. No police officer will escort them home after curfew. However, people living in a home together share a responsibility not to drive everybody else in the house crazy, and to be RESPECTFUL. Coming in at 2:00 a.m., playing loud music while entertaining friends, etc. might well cause problems in any living situation. It is important to outline your expectations. “Yes, you no longer need to answer to me in the same way you did before. But if you are out 'till all hours, I will sit up and worry anyway. If you blast music and wake everybody up, I will be very upset, and this arrangement will have to change.” Then stick to it. Part of becoming an adult is taking responsibility for your behavior and living with your choices.
Young Adults still need their Parents
Think of the initial years of parenting as a time for the parent to be a “manager” for the child. Adolescents and young adults need parents less for managing (decision-making, setting limits) and more as a consultant (pointing out pitfalls, offering suggestions and support). Most of all, young adult needs to know parents will be there when he or she needs them. Young adulthood is a time for creating new things: a new life, a new level of responsibility or sometimes just a new way of seeing themselves and their parents This process takes time, with lots of initial successes mixed with temporary setbacks. Older teens need to know that even though the parent's role may change, we (parents) are always a place to come for love and support-and maybe some help with the difficulties the transitioning young adult will surely face.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
High School Seniors..Have Chosen Your Major?
What is a college major and minor?
A major is a specialized field of study. By declaring a major, the student agrees to take particular classes to earn a college degree (a two-year associate's degree or four-year bachelor's degree) in that field.
College majors are organized collections of classes emphasizing one of the following
• a subject (English, mathematics, etc.).
• a professional field (pre-med, pre-law, engineering, etc.).
For example, to earn a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and Development from Ball State University, you need to complete 126 credit hours of course work. Approximately 81 of those credit hours would be specific to Urban Planning and Development.
If you're still undecided or think you might change your major, it's best to enroll in a college with a variety of solid programs. That way, you won't have to change universities if you decide to switch college majors.
That said, keep in mind that there are multiple avenues to most careers. Consider your long-term goals, but when choosing a major in college, also make sure that'll get you through the next four years. If you'll be going on to graduate school, you can always take post-baccalaureate classes in order to meet the admission requirements. For example, medical schools accept candidates from any major. Ultimately, employers are more concerned with your skill set than with the title of your degree.
This free online service surveys your grades and personal preferences, and then generates a list of college majors you may want to consider. Click on a major for a description of what you can do with it, and for links to more info, relevant university departments, and books on the subject.
A major is a specialized field of study. By declaring a major, the student agrees to take particular classes to earn a college degree (a two-year associate's degree or four-year bachelor's degree) in that field.
College majors are organized collections of classes emphasizing one of the following
• a subject (English, mathematics, etc.).
• a theme (peace studies, history of philosophy, etc.).
• a professional field (pre-med, pre-law, engineering, etc.).
For example, to earn a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and Development from Ball State University, you need to complete 126 credit hours of course work. Approximately 81 of those credit hours would be specific to Urban Planning and Development.
With most bachelor's degrees, you can minor in a subject different from your major. Minors generally require about half the credit hours as a major. A minor can allow you to merge two different subjects to create more career options.
For example, if you wanted to work as a scientific illustrator, you could major in science and minor in graphic design.
Choosing a major can be one of the most difficult yet important decisions you make.
You may be concerned about how the choice will affect your future. In addition, you may feel pressured to make a decision before you have any idea about what majors are available and how you would find a job in that field.
You need to first ask yourself these questions:
- How do I decide what I want to do with my life?
- What do I like or want to do?
- What can I do?
- What is the outlook for jobs with this major?
- Which high school subjects do I enjoy?
- What types of assignments interest me?
- What is difficult for others but comes easily to me?
Remember, you can always change your major of study, but it might mean you will have to stay in college longer to complete the required number of classes.
Evaluate the majors you are considering. When you are getting close to making a decision, think about the following:
• What preparatory classes are required?
• How many classes are required in the major?
Keep Your Options Open
If you're still undecided or think you might change your major, it's best to enroll in a college with a variety of solid programs. That way, you won't have to change universities if you decide to switch college majors.
Acceptance into certain programs can be competitive. If you're interested in, say, journalism, and know that enrollment is limited, pick journalism as your college major. Should you change your mind, it'll be easier to transfer out of journalism than to transfer in.
That said, keep in mind that there are multiple avenues to most careers. Consider your long-term goals, but when choosing a major in college, also make sure that'll get you through the next four years. If you'll be going on to graduate school, you can always take post-baccalaureate classes in order to meet the admission requirements. For example, medical schools accept candidates from any major. Ultimately, employers are more concerned with your skill set than with the title of your degree.
For more help in choosing a college major, visit this Web site: Mymajors.com
This free online service surveys your grades and personal preferences, and then generates a list of college majors you may want to consider. Click on a major for a description of what you can do with it, and for links to more info, relevant university departments, and books on the subject.
If you haven't decided what to study, you are in good company. Nearly two-thirds of all college freshmen have not chosen a major, and 55 to 60 percent of college students change their major at least once.
As usual discuss your decisions with your parents or an adult your trust.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Material Things Do Not Necessarily Bring Happiness
So now that Christmas has passed and you got all or STUFF, or maybe did not get that thing you thought would make you very happy. The truth is material things do not necessarily bring you happiness. That is a fact of life. It is a hard fact to understand sometimes, especially in a society that tries very hard to teach you otherwise.
It is very common to get into a mode where you think, "If only I had object X, my life would be perfect and I would be happy." You REALLY want something: a new TV, a new car, a special pair of shoes, whatever. Then you buy it and you LOVE having it for a few days. But over time you get bored or it wears out. You can see this pattern repeated constantly in your own life. For example, your parents and grandparents likely spent thousands and thousands of dollars on toys for you as you were growing up: Dump trucks and Barbie dolls and video games and electric cars and on and on and on. All of those toys got boring or broken or outgrown eventually. They brought happiness for a moment or a week, but over time they became worthless and your desire turned to a new object.
This pattern begs the following question: "If material things bring just a temporary and short-term happiness, then what does that mean?" It might mean that you have to buy material objects at a rate of perhaps one per day to sustain the temporary and short-term high of getting something new. The problem is, that begins to sound a lot like a drug habit. This train of thinking can get you into some very deep areas. Things like:
What is happiness?
What does it mean to be happy?
What do I want to do in my life?
Does life have meaning?
And so on.
Very deep.
There is a difference between material happiness, which implies having all the basic (or extravagant) comforts necessary to live life, and spiritual happiness, which implies something else altogether. I had a friend whose philosophy was this:
No matter how much money you make, you always want more. So if you make $25,000 you believe that if you just made $50,000 you would be happy. But then you begin to make $50,000. At that point you believe that if you just made $100,000 you would be happy, and so on through life. This pattern is true whether you make $25,000 or $10,000,000 a year, because as you earn more money you acquire more expensive tastes. It seems to me that you might as well learn to be happy on $25,000 a year, figure out an easy way to earn it and then have the rest of your time free to do what you want.
This sort of philosophy implies that you can find something other than material happiness to give meaning to your life.
The thing about "wealth" is that there is more than one way to measure it. Traditionally it is measured in dollars, but there are many other scales. You can be "rich" in ways that have nothing to do with money. For example:
Rich in friends—A person who cultivates friendships and who is a joy to be around can have hundreds of good friends and can be rich beyond the wildest dreams of others.
Rich in health—A person who spends time eating right, exercising and relaxing from stress can be extremely healthy, and this health can be far more valuable than any amount of money.
Rich in strength—A person who works out with weights every day, runs, swims, etc. can be rich in strength and will have an attractive body.
Rich in family—A person who devotes time to his or her spouse and children will have a strong and happy family that is rewarding throughout life.
Rich in knowledge—A person who reads and studies will become rich in knowledge.
Rich in skill—A person who practices anything daily (a skill, a sport, prayer, whatever) will become excellent in that skill area. Excellence has its own rewards.
Rich in character— A person who works hard at being honest and truthful in all situations will become rich in character and will be trusted by everyone.
One funny thing about all of these different areas is that none of them are taxed. You are taxed on the money you earn, and that is it. There is no knowledge tax, for example. You can learn freely throughout life and acquire a huge "bank account" of knowledge. No one can steal it or diminish it in any way. Presumably, knowledge is the one thing you might be able to take with you to Heaven.
All of these alternative types of wealth are different from financial wealth, and yet all of them can be equally rewarding in their own ways. The point is that the act of buying things by itself, despite what television tells you, may not be what will bring you maximum happiness in life. Things like good friends, a loving spouse, well-raised children, a home built on love, a good relationship with God, a clear conscience, a worthy goal and a job you truly enjoy bring you contentment that lasts and has meaning. These things are often very hard for some teenagers to understand, but as you mature they become more important.
As you look at the world around you and come to understand what is important to you, keep these things in mind. Think about what it is that you enjoy and what makes you truly happy. See what you find. In thinking about it consciously, you might be surprised by what you discover. Money is incredibly important—you need it to survive. But it is not the only thing you need, and money itself will not bring lasting happiness to most people. Man does not live by bread alone.
The Meaning of Life
As you ponder things like the importance of money and the role of happiness, you often end up at the question, "What is the meaning of life?" For most teenagers, this question is both important and confounding. Like its partner, "Who am I?" it is unique to you. Only you can provide the answer.
There are as many answers to the question, "What is the meaning of life?" as there are people. However, the answers often break into broad categories. By looking at some of the categories (as well as creating categories of your own) you can often come to understand how you want to answer the question. The following three sections look at three different ways that you can think about the question. This list is not exhaustive, and I am not advocating any of them. They simply offer you some examples.
Life Has No Meaning
What is the meaning of life for a rabbit? A rabbit is born. It eats and sleeps. It reaches sexual maturity and has children of its own. It is either eaten or dies of natural causes. When it dies there is no "heaven." It simply dies and that is the end of it. In such a scenario it is possible to conclude that life for a rabbit has no meaning. Rabbits exist to produce other rabbits and thus keep the species alive, but even that has little or no meaning in the grand scheme of things.
The "life has no meaning" school of thought applies that same line of reasoning to human beings. Humans, so the logic goes, have no soul and no afterlife, and therefore are no different from rabbits. When we die we die, and that is the end of it. This thought process can lead to one of several behavior patterns:
Because life has no meaning, there is no point to living. I should wallow in self-pity and a private misery for years at a time.
Because life has no meaning, I might as well be as obnoxious as possible—This is the "juvenile delinquent" and "career criminal" school of thought. Since life is meaningless, you might as well make as many people miserable as possible by killing people, robbing them, vandalizing things and so on. It is unclear how the connection from "my life has no meaning" to "therefore everyone else should be miserable" is made, but these people make it nonetheless.
Because life has no meaning, I might as well enjoy it while I am alive—A corollary is "I may die tomorrow, so I had better live it up today." Another somewhat more positive corollary is, "Life is a journey; enjoy the ride." In either case, life is seen as a terminating state of being, so the more you enjoy it now the better.
Life may have no meaning, but I choose to make other lives better during my time here—This is the opposite and positive side of the "juvenile delinquent" school of thought.
Life Has Meaning Through Human Society
Assume that there is no God and no afterlife. Even so, it is possible for life to have meaning through the larger and ongoing society we live in. By looking at your life as a part of a whole rather than as an individual life, it can have meaning when you ask a question like, "Where is humanity, as a whole, headed?"
Think of it this way: Human beings have progressed from the point where we were strictly animals to the point where we are thinking, knowing beings who have just started to harness space travel, computers and communication. In just 100 years we have gone from an agricultural society to a technical society. This transformation has not occurred because of one person, but instead because of the contributions of billions of people. Each of us does one small thing that moves society forward. For example, many people worked to develop the telephone and build the switching infrastructure that makes up the telephone network. Many other people invented the Internet and built the systems on top of the phone system that make the Internet possible. Many more people worked to get a phone wire to your house. Still more people invented, refined and popularized computer hardware and software. Many more worked on modems and web sites. As a result of all of this effort you can now easily dial in to the Internet and retrieve billions of bytes of data from around the world using the World Wide Web.
Given our rate of technical progress, imagine what you will be able to do 100 years from now in terms of communication, calculations, travel, and so on. One day we will be able to colonize other planets. One day we will be able to travel to other solar systems and galaxies. One day we will be able to move huge amounts of matter to create new planets. One day we will, in theory, be able to design our own universes. When that happens, humanity will have become something else entirely. If we become immortal and can redesign or create universes, then we will be entirely unlike what we are today. Perhaps at that point we will find a completely different way to look at the universe and understand its significance.
In such a context, you are one part of the process that gets us there. Choose a worthwhile goal that moves humanity forward and work toward it.
Life Has Meaning Through God
Most religions contain a concept of Heaven or an afterlife. Christians, for example, believe in an eternal life through belief in Jesus Christ:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. [Source: John 3:16]
By believing in God, Heaven and an afterlife, life has meaning because it is not an end in itself. Instead, life is part of an ongoing and eternal process. The life we have on earth is just one small step.
If you believe in God and Heaven the questions then shift:
If there is a Heaven and Hell, how can I get into the former and avoid the latter?
What do I take with me to Heaven? What can I do to prepare?
Many teenagers rebel against the idea of God and Heaven in much the way that they rebel against Santa Claus as pre-teens. There is, after all, no direct proof that God exists. For example, He has never taken over all the TV stations and spoken to all of humanity to prove His existence. And yet there is more subtle evidence. There is the universe itself, for example. Where did it come from? There are thousands of consistent and reputable stories about near-death experiences. There is growing scientific evidence of the power of prayer. These things combine together in such a way that you must wonder: Is there more to life than what we can see? And if so, how does it affect us when we die? These questions often lead adults to God. God gives their lives meaning because death is not the end—it is the beginning
It is very common to get into a mode where you think, "If only I had object X, my life would be perfect and I would be happy." You REALLY want something: a new TV, a new car, a special pair of shoes, whatever. Then you buy it and you LOVE having it for a few days. But over time you get bored or it wears out. You can see this pattern repeated constantly in your own life. For example, your parents and grandparents likely spent thousands and thousands of dollars on toys for you as you were growing up: Dump trucks and Barbie dolls and video games and electric cars and on and on and on. All of those toys got boring or broken or outgrown eventually. They brought happiness for a moment or a week, but over time they became worthless and your desire turned to a new object.
This pattern begs the following question: "If material things bring just a temporary and short-term happiness, then what does that mean?" It might mean that you have to buy material objects at a rate of perhaps one per day to sustain the temporary and short-term high of getting something new. The problem is, that begins to sound a lot like a drug habit. This train of thinking can get you into some very deep areas. Things like:
What is happiness?
What does it mean to be happy?
What do I want to do in my life?
Does life have meaning?
And so on.
Very deep.
There is a difference between material happiness, which implies having all the basic (or extravagant) comforts necessary to live life, and spiritual happiness, which implies something else altogether. I had a friend whose philosophy was this:
No matter how much money you make, you always want more. So if you make $25,000 you believe that if you just made $50,000 you would be happy. But then you begin to make $50,000. At that point you believe that if you just made $100,000 you would be happy, and so on through life. This pattern is true whether you make $25,000 or $10,000,000 a year, because as you earn more money you acquire more expensive tastes. It seems to me that you might as well learn to be happy on $25,000 a year, figure out an easy way to earn it and then have the rest of your time free to do what you want.
This sort of philosophy implies that you can find something other than material happiness to give meaning to your life.
The thing about "wealth" is that there is more than one way to measure it. Traditionally it is measured in dollars, but there are many other scales. You can be "rich" in ways that have nothing to do with money. For example:
Rich in friends—A person who cultivates friendships and who is a joy to be around can have hundreds of good friends and can be rich beyond the wildest dreams of others.
Rich in health—A person who spends time eating right, exercising and relaxing from stress can be extremely healthy, and this health can be far more valuable than any amount of money.
Rich in strength—A person who works out with weights every day, runs, swims, etc. can be rich in strength and will have an attractive body.
Rich in family—A person who devotes time to his or her spouse and children will have a strong and happy family that is rewarding throughout life.
Rich in knowledge—A person who reads and studies will become rich in knowledge.
Rich in skill—A person who practices anything daily (a skill, a sport, prayer, whatever) will become excellent in that skill area. Excellence has its own rewards.
Rich in character— A person who works hard at being honest and truthful in all situations will become rich in character and will be trusted by everyone.
One funny thing about all of these different areas is that none of them are taxed. You are taxed on the money you earn, and that is it. There is no knowledge tax, for example. You can learn freely throughout life and acquire a huge "bank account" of knowledge. No one can steal it or diminish it in any way. Presumably, knowledge is the one thing you might be able to take with you to Heaven.
All of these alternative types of wealth are different from financial wealth, and yet all of them can be equally rewarding in their own ways. The point is that the act of buying things by itself, despite what television tells you, may not be what will bring you maximum happiness in life. Things like good friends, a loving spouse, well-raised children, a home built on love, a good relationship with God, a clear conscience, a worthy goal and a job you truly enjoy bring you contentment that lasts and has meaning. These things are often very hard for some teenagers to understand, but as you mature they become more important.
As you look at the world around you and come to understand what is important to you, keep these things in mind. Think about what it is that you enjoy and what makes you truly happy. See what you find. In thinking about it consciously, you might be surprised by what you discover. Money is incredibly important—you need it to survive. But it is not the only thing you need, and money itself will not bring lasting happiness to most people. Man does not live by bread alone.
The Meaning of Life
As you ponder things like the importance of money and the role of happiness, you often end up at the question, "What is the meaning of life?" For most teenagers, this question is both important and confounding. Like its partner, "Who am I?" it is unique to you. Only you can provide the answer.
There are as many answers to the question, "What is the meaning of life?" as there are people. However, the answers often break into broad categories. By looking at some of the categories (as well as creating categories of your own) you can often come to understand how you want to answer the question. The following three sections look at three different ways that you can think about the question. This list is not exhaustive, and I am not advocating any of them. They simply offer you some examples.
Life Has No Meaning
What is the meaning of life for a rabbit? A rabbit is born. It eats and sleeps. It reaches sexual maturity and has children of its own. It is either eaten or dies of natural causes. When it dies there is no "heaven." It simply dies and that is the end of it. In such a scenario it is possible to conclude that life for a rabbit has no meaning. Rabbits exist to produce other rabbits and thus keep the species alive, but even that has little or no meaning in the grand scheme of things.
The "life has no meaning" school of thought applies that same line of reasoning to human beings. Humans, so the logic goes, have no soul and no afterlife, and therefore are no different from rabbits. When we die we die, and that is the end of it. This thought process can lead to one of several behavior patterns:
Because life has no meaning, there is no point to living. I should wallow in self-pity and a private misery for years at a time.
Because life has no meaning, I might as well be as obnoxious as possible—This is the "juvenile delinquent" and "career criminal" school of thought. Since life is meaningless, you might as well make as many people miserable as possible by killing people, robbing them, vandalizing things and so on. It is unclear how the connection from "my life has no meaning" to "therefore everyone else should be miserable" is made, but these people make it nonetheless.
Because life has no meaning, I might as well enjoy it while I am alive—A corollary is "I may die tomorrow, so I had better live it up today." Another somewhat more positive corollary is, "Life is a journey; enjoy the ride." In either case, life is seen as a terminating state of being, so the more you enjoy it now the better.
Life may have no meaning, but I choose to make other lives better during my time here—This is the opposite and positive side of the "juvenile delinquent" school of thought.
Life Has Meaning Through Human Society
Assume that there is no God and no afterlife. Even so, it is possible for life to have meaning through the larger and ongoing society we live in. By looking at your life as a part of a whole rather than as an individual life, it can have meaning when you ask a question like, "Where is humanity, as a whole, headed?"
Think of it this way: Human beings have progressed from the point where we were strictly animals to the point where we are thinking, knowing beings who have just started to harness space travel, computers and communication. In just 100 years we have gone from an agricultural society to a technical society. This transformation has not occurred because of one person, but instead because of the contributions of billions of people. Each of us does one small thing that moves society forward. For example, many people worked to develop the telephone and build the switching infrastructure that makes up the telephone network. Many other people invented the Internet and built the systems on top of the phone system that make the Internet possible. Many more people worked to get a phone wire to your house. Still more people invented, refined and popularized computer hardware and software. Many more worked on modems and web sites. As a result of all of this effort you can now easily dial in to the Internet and retrieve billions of bytes of data from around the world using the World Wide Web.
Given our rate of technical progress, imagine what you will be able to do 100 years from now in terms of communication, calculations, travel, and so on. One day we will be able to colonize other planets. One day we will be able to travel to other solar systems and galaxies. One day we will be able to move huge amounts of matter to create new planets. One day we will, in theory, be able to design our own universes. When that happens, humanity will have become something else entirely. If we become immortal and can redesign or create universes, then we will be entirely unlike what we are today. Perhaps at that point we will find a completely different way to look at the universe and understand its significance.
In such a context, you are one part of the process that gets us there. Choose a worthwhile goal that moves humanity forward and work toward it.
Life Has Meaning Through God
Most religions contain a concept of Heaven or an afterlife. Christians, for example, believe in an eternal life through belief in Jesus Christ:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. [Source: John 3:16]
By believing in God, Heaven and an afterlife, life has meaning because it is not an end in itself. Instead, life is part of an ongoing and eternal process. The life we have on earth is just one small step.
If you believe in God and Heaven the questions then shift:
If there is a Heaven and Hell, how can I get into the former and avoid the latter?
What do I take with me to Heaven? What can I do to prepare?
Many teenagers rebel against the idea of God and Heaven in much the way that they rebel against Santa Claus as pre-teens. There is, after all, no direct proof that God exists. For example, He has never taken over all the TV stations and spoken to all of humanity to prove His existence. And yet there is more subtle evidence. There is the universe itself, for example. Where did it come from? There are thousands of consistent and reputable stories about near-death experiences. There is growing scientific evidence of the power of prayer. These things combine together in such a way that you must wonder: Is there more to life than what we can see? And if so, how does it affect us when we die? These questions often lead adults to God. God gives their lives meaning because death is not the end—it is the beginning
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