As the Mirror Speaks...

This has been taped to my mirror and it is an article by Eric Owens at the Highlands Study Center, from the magazine Every Thought Captive. This article was one of my favorites from 2008 and I wanted to share it with you......

The King has No Clothes

6:00 a.m. get up, dress, eat a breakfast bar, wait in the dark for the bus, drive around town and pick up everyone else, braaang, first bell warning, braang, second bell major warning, better be in home room!, braang first class bell, find your room across the building, review homework, wait for the others to be quiet, hear lecture, braang, second class bell, rush to your locker, find your room across the building, don’t be late!, review homework, wait for the others to be quiet, hear lecture, braang, third class bell, review homework, wait for the others to be quiet, hear lecture, braang, lunch, soy burgers and tater tots, find your locker, braang fourth class bell, review homework, wait for the others to be quiet, hear lecture, braang fifth class bell, review homework, wait for the others to be quiet, hear lecture, braang rush to the busses everyone, don’t be late or you’ll miss it, home, snack, homework, homework, homework, chores, dinner, a little more work– there’s another test tomorrow - I don’t really understand it yet - too bad we’re moving on - sleep. Rinse, repeat 800 times, study for the S.A.T. and A.C.T. (just to be sure), you have to get into a good college, stay busy with clubs, you have to get into a good college, ignore your raging hormones for a few more years you have to get into a good college. It’s expensive I know but you’ll have to just go into debt, work, work, get a job during college, rush home, get a summer job, stave off the creditors, year 2, work, work, study, study, year 3, it doesn’t pay but you must have an internship if you want to get a good job, work, work, study, study, finish college, apply, apply, find that entry level position that pays virtually nothing, you need good experience, you’ll pay that debt off later, you have to work hard to get ahead, you want a better job than this one don’t you, work, work, commute, commute, ignore your raging hormones you really need to focus on this job, you got that great job congratulations, it’s lots of money, you can finally pay down your college debt but you also need a bigger house, what will people think, you need that car too, what will people think, work, work, rise up, become more valuable, get more money, ignore your raging hormones for a few more years you have to work hard to pay off your mortgage and car debt. Got that paid off, now work harder to get ahead to put money into your retirement account and kids college fund. Yes, you don’t have kids yet, you aren’t even married but tuition will soon be $100,000 a year by the time they are ready and you only have $200 put aside, work harder, you’ll just have to delay marriage so that you can be ready for that child. And retirement, you don’t want to work like this forever do you, you deserve to retire and stop working, Retirement will cost $2,000,000 by the time you are ready, I mean it’s not really about working it’s about your kids and their future, and when they come you really need to get them into a good pre-school because private kindergartens are killers to get into and if he doesn’t start succeeding now then when and so you’ll need to put aside a little for private prep school and after work and after your commute you can spend your evenings and weekends driving him around the state to soccer matches so that his resume will be outstanding and so that he can get into a good college. You want him to have the same life you have don’t you?