Life's 4 Living - or is it?

A 19 year old German girl is traveling alone around Australia and New Zealand. She is very well educated and able to express intelligent opinions on a wide variety of topics. Her conversation ranges freely over politics, personal relationships, education, the environment crisis, her future and elsewhere. In all areas she is articulate, open-minded and confident in her view. One day she is asked to clean up the kitchen, but it turns out that she has no idea how to clean up a small space.  She starts to fall in love with an American student but it turns out that she is not brave enough to let him know that she is interested in him. She talks about the career she knows she has to plan but it turns out that she is barely able to think about what she wants, locked by her fear of making a mistake and disappointing her parents. She is so ashamed and afraid of disturbing other people at the dinner table that she has to leave the room when she needs to cough.

A Chinese student marries his girlfriend because she is pregnant. He is studying a Master’s degree in commerce at university. His mother calls his new wife soon after the wedding and asks her not to put too much pressure on him because he hasn’t finished his studies yet. He has (presumably) self-educated himself how to conceive a baby, but not one person through all his 25 years has educated him on how to handle being a parent. Now that he is going to be a father his own parents still want him protected from real life so he can finish his academic studies.

An American young man is traveling around New Zealand after graduating from high school. When asked what his life goal is he smiles and says he is interested in martial arts, and wants to explore and learn the mysteries of life. He plans to go to university to study anthropology after he completes his travels. When questioned about his choice he is not really sure but thinks it is probably necessary to go to college and says that "Anthropology looks interesting".  It has no connection whatsoever with his life goal, and will not in any way help him to reach what he wants. Realistically the closest he is likely to come to exploring the mysteries of life is through alcohol, drugs and late-night philosophical discussions.

These young people are real and they are not unusual. They are well educated, intelligent and still hopeful that they have a bright future. They all have excellent potential for success and satisfaction if they find the right direction. They will all be able to work well in any career they choose but they all suffer from one simple problem. They have no idea about life.

I like to picture how they might be if they had had as much life education as they received academic education. I imagine the German girl already enjoying success in her first career - a strong young woman with no need for a man to provide her with emotional support. She is disciplined in her lifestyle (and tidy), full of confidence in action rather than words, and a lot quieter in her opinions. Relationship comes to her much later and she is much happier for it. The Chinese student is happy and not so serious. If his girlfriend gets pregnant (which she probably doesn't) he quickly comes up with a creative idea for providing for the baby financially without disturbing his studies - probably an internet based business. He is healthy and strong enough to handle the pressure, sleepless nights and additional responsibility. In fact he sees it as a chance to increase his ability to handle life and takes it as a challenge rather than a problem. He has no need whatsoever for interference from his parents. The American man is undergoing a highly disciplined martial arts training and already developing some extraordinary abilities. He is inspired by the possibility of being able to use his training in the future to take on bigger challenges, perhaps learning how to heal incurable diseases or train top athletes in elite performance. 

Life's 4 Living, or at least it should be, but it appears that is only true if you know how to live.