How Life Pans Out

Tancred

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Most people finish uni at 21.

I personally think it's much harder for us that people of my parents age.

And yes, OP, I have much more worries than my parents did at my age.

This thread will go off on one as younger people believe older people had it much easier and older people think every young person is a spendaholic with no worries.

Being middle aged I see the validity of both points of view.

The trouble is that you can only really identify with your situation and your experiences, irrespective of your age, so it's very difficult to understand issues affecting other age groups. It's human nature.

Tancred

mgdavid wrote: »

a tiny number of people appear to be very lucky or unlucky without any external factors. For the majority in the middle I firmly believe that you 'make your own luck'. Examples being understanding and playing to ones' strengths, having a positive attitude, choosing with care who you marry, taking calculated risks; what we used to call common sense.

This is only true to a limited extent, because no matter how hard you try you can still meet very big barriers. Tenacity and determination are what saw me through, as well as a sense of personal pride and self esteem. Once you lose your self worth then life can simply roll downhill into the abyss.

Tanswell88

I must say, I am a firm believer in that you have to work hard for what you want in life. At 25 I know a few people the same age as myself who expect a whole lot of things for doing nothing.
I personally think that you get out of life what you put in however sometimes things can go a lot worse then you deserve or a lot better.

SandC

I wouldn't say that today's youngsters worry more about things - perhaps they are more vocal than the older generation who did have a tendency to 'get on with things' perhaps moreso.

I also agree with what others have said about luck. To a degree we can make our own luck but that only goes so far - a positive attitude, a hard working mentality etc. But sometimes it really is a case of happening to know the right people, at the right time and your 'face fitting' to get along. Pure hard work doesn't always get you where you want to go.

As long as you maintain a positive attitude about the setbacks in life though, maybe things do 'pan out' for the best. Just because things happen for others doesn't mean they won't for you - just in another way, at another time. Maybe the older generation were a little more accepting of getting their lot in life, I'm not sure.

VestanPance

I don't believe in luck. Life is what you make of it. Nothing pans out except mediocrity. If you want something from life you need to have the ability and to work at it.

Also no generation had it easier. Each generation faces obstacles to over come, just different obstacles.

Person_one

Having parents who care about you, being able bodied and minded, your level of intelligence, your family circumstances, your place of birth, your health, so so much is down to luck.

A lot of people congratulate themselves on their hard work, and don't want to admit things could have been very different for them in different circumstances.

VestanPance

Person_one wrote: »

Having parents who care about you, being able bodied and minded, your level of intelligence, your family circumstances, your place of birth, your health, so so much is down to luck.

A lot of people congratulate themselves on their hard work, and don't want to admit things could have been very different for them in different circumstances.

Some folk look for reasons and excuses to fail. If you want to achieve something then do it. You have control of that nobody else.

I was raised in a rough council estate in Glasgow in the 70's/80's. High unemployment all around me. My parents didn't have a single qualification between them. I was expected to leave school at 16 and drift into any job I could get or sign on, much like everyone in the estate.

I took it on myself to expect more and to do more. Was it easy, no. You can take the "panned out" life, or take control. I took control.

EDIT: I fully accept based on situation that a path to success in any element of life can be easier, but I fully believe that people should work to their potential and not just accept things.

SandC

I completely agree with you Person_one. I would never say that anyone hasn't worked hard for the things they achieved but it doesn't mean that someone else hasn't worked equally as hard but just hasn't had the breaks, for whatever reason.

That comes into relationships as well as the workplace or anything else that is strived for throughout our lifetime.

Marmaduke123

Person_one wrote: »

The people who say 'everything pans out in the end' tend to be the people for whom everything has panned out in the end.

I really agree with this! There are a lot of people who have never had anything major go wrong in their lives up to now, and just don't understand how it can happen.

Also, no-one can be sure "everything pans out in the end" until they are on their deathbed. Things can go wrong at any time of life.

skattykatty

The older generation when offering advice often say that the younger generation often worry too much often about things that generally never happen and that everything pans out the way it should in the end.

How 'should' things pan out? I've worried about plenty of things that have happened! Maybe because I just worried too much, but maybe, however hard I tried they just weren't going to work out.

Altogether, I think most people, of every generation, worry a lot. You may think some worries are more mundane than others, but they are still worries. Maybe things 'pan out' in the end because things are accepted to be what they are. I suppose the older I get the more I have to accept that some things are just not going to be in my life.