I've recently been asked, "What are some serious thoughts you'd like to share with the younger generation?" My answer was, "It depends on what's happening. It depends on what part of the generation we're considering. I may have different advice for different segments of society." So, let's look into this a little bit.
Doing a little surfing on the internet (not the same as conducting a research), I've found 12 facets or views of life. These facets relate to the 1) Self, 2) Behavioral, 3) Financial, 4) Business, 5) Health, 6) Recreation, 7) Academic, 8) Social, 9) Physical, 10) Emotional, 11) Mental and 12) Spiritual aspects of life. A facet is one side or aspect of something.
For example, if you're thinking about quitting your day job to become a comedian, you should first consider every facet of how your family will be affected, and what your new life might be like.
In each facet or aspect of life, there are thousands of things to consider. Decades ago, psychologists estimated that the mind thinks between 50,000–80,000 thoughts a day. That's an average of 2,083–3,333 thoughts per hour. However, a newer study (2020) from psychologists at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, reports observations of the transition from one thought to another in MRI brain scans. Referred to as "thought worms," the team says that the average human has 6,200 thoughts per day. (I don't know what an average human is. Perhaps they meant that humans have an average of 6,200 thoughts per day.) I wonder how many hundreds or thousands of things they had to consider to come up with that new number.
So, it is 6,200 thoughts per day, or up to 80,000? It depends on what we consider a "thought."
Thinking about averages, there is no such thing as an average human because everyone is different. No two people see exactly the same, hear exactly the same, feel exactly the same, or think exactly the same as other people, because how and what we perceive in life depends on each person's specific chemical makeup. That's one reason some folks are better in business, some in academia, some in the medical field, some in the mechanical field, and so forth.
But is there one aspect of life that has an overarching effect over all others? Yes. Some folks say there are two, others say there is one, but both intertwine, so the answer is still, yes. Those two aspects are self and spiritual.
How I see or visualize myself affects everything I do. But my spiritual values determine who and what I am, therefore, they affect everything I do. So, to reflect on the topic at hand, the serious thoughts I share with the younger generation all relate to the spiritual side of life. And, I've been doing that for years. Consider prayerfully:
1. You are the only one who determines where you'll go after you die.
2. You are going to live forever. Where do you want to live? Do you want to live forever in the presence of a loving God? You would like that. Or, do you want to live forever outside the presence of a loving God? You won't like that.
3. Where you live forever depends on how you live here on earth.
4. How you live here on earth depends on how and what you think.
5. How and what you think depends on what you feed your mind.
6. What you feed your mind depends on your spiritual values.
7. Your spiritual values reveal who and what you really are.
8. So, who are you? What are you?
9. If who you are will not grant you access to heaven, you need help.
10. Help is found in Jesus Christ. He's the only one Who can grant us eternal life.
11. You can learn about Jesus in the Holy Bible.
12. Read the Bible and ask the Lord to make you a new person, so you can live with Him in heaven forever.
13. Then live for Jesus now.
14. Who would you become? An adopted son or daughter of God.
Your future on earth, as well as your future throughout eternity, depends on what you decide. Please understand: the Lord will not make that decision for you because God wouldn't receive any pleasure from creating robots to worship Him. But God is ready and available to help you when you decide to honor Him.
-- S. Eugene Linzey is an author, mentor, and speaker. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. Visit his web site at www.genelinzey.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.