Rebelling Against Low Expectation

7/25/2019 Rebelling Against Low Expectation

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REBELLING AGAINSTS LOW EXPECTATIONQuestion: Do you still believe what our national hero Jose Rizal said

Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan?hen you look around today! our "ulture does not e#pe"t $u"h o% us

young people& e are not only e#pe"ted to do very little that is wise or good!but we're e#pe"ted to do the opposite (not doing what is supposed to be

done)& *he trained elephant o% +ndia is a per%e"t pi"ture o% the power o%

psy"hologi"al "aptivity& *a$ed and utilized %or its enor$ous strength! the

great beast stands nearly , %eet tall and weighs up to . tons when %ully

grown& +ts tasks $ay in"lude uprooting %ull-grown trees! hauling great

boulders! and "arrying enor$ous loads on its shoulders& And yet! when the

day/s work is done and this power%ul beast $ust be kept %ro$ wandering o0

during the night! its owner si$ply takes a pie"e o% twine! atta"hes it to a

s$all bran"h e$bedded in the ground! and ties it around the elephant/s right

hind leg& Reason di"tates that the elephant "an easily snap the twine or pull

the twig %ro$ ground! and yet the owner does not worry! %ully "on1dent that

when $orning "o$es he will 1nd the ani$al e#a"tly where he le%t hi$& And

he does& 2ow is that possible? The answer is that it has little to do with

the piece of rope aro nd the elephant!s an"le and e#er$thin% to dowith the in#isi&le shac"les aro nd the elephant!s 'ind(

*he young adults o% our generation are like the elephant-strong! s$art!

holding in"redible potential but so$ehow held ba"k by nothing $ore than a

pie"e o% twine (the 3 th "entury "on"ept o% adoles"en"e4$yth o%

adoles"en"e) *he word teenager is so "o$$on today that $ost people don/t even

think about it- i% they do! it/s usually not positive& A""ording to the di"tionary!

a teenager is a person between ages o% thirteen and nineteen years old&5ost o% us %all in that "ategory&

6ut would it surprise you to 1nd out that at one ti$e teenagers didn/t

even e#ist? *he 1rst do"u$ented use o% the word teenager was in ,78, by

Reader/s Digest& 9o what was it like to be a teen ba"k then! even be%ore the


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idea o% teen e#isted? *o answer it! +/d like to introdu"e you to so$e young

people in A$eri"a/s past& *hey were eorge! and David& *he %ather o% our "ountry! eorge ashington! though never thought

to be parti"ularly bright by his peers! began to $aster geo$etry!

trigono$etry! and surveying when he would have been a .th or ;th grader in

our day and "eased his %or$al edu"ation at ,8 years o% age& At the age o% ,;

he was na$ed o


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our sha"kles hide in si$ple! deadly ideas like adolescence and teenager.

T*E *ISTOR+ of +O,Around the year ,7 ! a "as"ade o% labor- and s"hool re%or$ laws were

passed in an atte$pt to prote"t kids %ro$ the harsh "onditions in %a"tories& *hese laws were good be"ause "onditions had been brutal! and "hildren/s

health and edu"ation su0ered& Fn%ortunately! the laws had so$e unintended

and %ar rea"hing "onse uen"es& 6y "o$pletely re$oving "hildren %ro$ the

workpla"e and $andating s"hool attendan"e through high s"hool! teen/s

on"e-established role as key produ"ers and "ontributors "a$e to an end&

9uddenly their role was e#"lusively that o% "onsu$ers& And so! the

teenager was invented- a young person with $ost o% the desires and

abilities o% an adult and abilities o% an adult but %ew o% the e#pe"tations or

responsibilities&=onsider a $inute how %ar the e#pe"tations have %allen& *welve-year-

old David was e#pe"ted to su""ess%ully return a ship! its "aptain! and its "rew

to the Fnited 9tates& And we/re e#pe"ted to endure the hardships o% doing

the dinner dishes? (hehe! but true)& +t/s al$ost gotten to the point that

people e#pe"t o% teenagers than they do o% toddlers& hy do babies! with

in%erior $otor skills! reasoning ability! and physi"al strength e#perien"enearly , per"ent su""ess in over"o$ing di


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words! as young people we are "alled to be e#e$plary in all areas o% li%e& 6ut

then we see! our generation is %alling in"redibly short o% that "alling& hat we

1nd is "lear eviden"e that od does not hold two standards: one %or young

adults and one %or adults& 2e has high e#pe"tations %or both& here so$e

$ight look down on or e#"use young adults! od "alls us to be e#a$ples&

here our "ulture $ight e#pe"t little! od e#pe"ts great things& *he world says! LIou're young! have %unM (Kepsi)L +t tells us to Lobey

your thirst (9prite)L and LHust do it ( ike)&L Gr it tells us! LIou're greatM Iou

don't need to e#ert yoursel%&L 6ut those kinds o% $indsets sabotage "hara"ter

and "o$peten"e&Re$e$ber our elephant in +ndia! sha"kled by nothing but a pie"e o%

twine and a wooden post in the ground? hat/s going on there? hy doesn/t

he Hust break %ree? *he strength is there but why doesn/t use it? 2ere/s how

it works& hen the elephant is still young! his owner takes hi$ %ro$ his

$other and sha"kles hi$ to a large tree- with a heavy "hain around his right

hind leg& or days and weeks! the young elephant will strain and pull! trying

to break %ree! but all he su""eeds in doing is "ausing the sha"kle to "ut deep

into his leg& Eventually he gives up and a""epts that the idea that he "an/t go

anywhere when there is so$ething around his right hind leg& 9oon! the

owner "an repla"e the tree with a post and the "hain with a pie"e o% twine&

Gn"e the elephant %eels resistan"e! he stops& *here/s nothing but a pie"e o%

twine around his ankle! but there are heavy sha"kles around his $ind&e see that we are like that elephant& e have proven strength and

od-given potential- potential to do hard! i$portant things- but we are held

"aptive by a lie& e have been "onditioned to believe what is %alse! to stop

when things %eels hard! and to $iss out on od/s in"redible purpose %or our

teen years&2ere/s a uestion + want to ask individually and "orporately: hat is

holding us ba"k? 2istory de$onstrates that we are %ar $ore "apable than

we think we are&

e %a"e a "risis and an opportunity& A "risis! in the sense that we "an

no longer a0ord to slowly dri%t towards adulthood! viewing the teen years as


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a va"ation %ro$ responsibility! and an opportunity! in the sense that we "an

e$bra"e li%e now and $ake a di0eren"e %or the glory o% od! and %or the

good our %a$ily! our nation! and our world& Nook down at your ankle and

see the patheti" "ontrivan"e that has been restraining you& ow renew your

$ind in the light o% od/s ord and take a step %orward&

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Rebelling Against Low Expectation