Leave a Mark

Go ahead and leave a mark… not on my window or mirror, but on the world.

You are young. Go out and pursue your passions. I am talking to you young men and women who are still living with your parents at the age of 25. I am talking to you young boys playing video games all hours of the day and night rather than seeking job opportunities that will greatly improve your life. I’m talking to you late-night partiers, who nobody is sure where you get the money to buy your high. I’m talking to you! Yes, you! You just graduated from high school. Now what? Mom and dad or grandparents will not be around forever to take care of you. Maybe one day you will have kids of your own and you will have to learn to take care of them and pay for their clothing, food and other expenses. How will you do that without a job?

If your excuse is that there are NO job opportunities in your village, then GET OUT! Yes, there is a way! There are scholarships. There are internships. There are even loans to get your way paid to a place where you can apply for jobs. One day you will return and MAKE job opportunities for future generations.

Make use of your youthful mind and body. Don’t let them weaken without mileage. Use your mistakes as learning experiences rather than as a standard of living. If you go to jail for something, make sure it doesn’t happen again. Tell yourself you are better than that. Encourage others not to make the same mistakes.

You are middle-aged. Work hard and raise your children right. Set good examples for the youth in your community. Be the best version of yourself so your children will have big shoes to fill. Reflect on your younger years with smiles and no regrets. If you have not gotten things together yet, it is not too late. 

Love yourself. You may begin to fret over those white hairs or eye wrinkles that welcome themselves more and more each day, but remember they happen to the best of us. 

You may start to feel worn out after a long, hard day at work, but your body has not fully given up on you. Don’t give up on it. Fuel it up with good foods and exercise regularly.

You are an elder. Leave your knowledge with the younger generations. Times are changing. We will forget our heritage, if not for you. Teach us to cut fish, to take care of oogruk, to read the river's channel, to dance, and to subsist. Speak to your children and grandchildren with the native tongue that your parents spoke to you with. Teach us how life was back before electricity and the internet. Show us REAL survival. If you do this, we will pass on hard work and love for others, as well as ourselves. Teach us what really MATTERS.

Take that cruise that you could never afford or make time for in your younger years. Visit your bucket list and cross things off left and right. Don’t make excuses.  

  

No matter what your age, leave a mark! Life is too short to play video games all day. Life is too short to dwell on what could have been. Why waste time thinking about that when “what is to be” is happening right now? Life goes on, with or without you. Be remembered as someone who left a mark on everyone: someone who inspired, someone who stood up for higher education, someone who stood up for domestic violence, someone who took care of sick people, a foster parent, a shoulder to cry on, a revitalizer of traditional values, etc, etc, etc.

You may never realize your value to your community if you don’t go out and seek opportunity. Go out and leave your mark. Leave it high! Leave it low! Smear it for all to see! Perhaps, your mark may save a life or a whole community, for that matter.