Professor Olivier Bonnewijn (UCO – France) affirmed that: From the age of 6. Helping young people answer questions like Finland’s third graders is so they can complete their lives in the most beautiful way. That is: Who I am? What makes humanity? What would the world be like if everyone was the same? Do animals think or not? How do humans know about the ability of animals to think?…
An ideal
The image of a mother in the last moments of her life – when she can no longer speak – holds her child’s hand, presses it to her chest with a radiant face and a happy smile on her lips, shows us that she has completed her life. life satisfactorily.
We humans all die! It is a harsh rule of life that everyone will accept, but is such a statement positive? Is such a statement appropriate for young people who are full of life, have many ambitions and dreams, or are stuck but still want to move forward?
The phenomenon of suicide, running away from home, living without purpose of young people that we are witnessing makes it more urgent to affirm the future of life. “Humans, everyone dies!” or “Human, everyone needs to complete their life!”.
Around the world, in many places it is clear that there are young people who look like everyone else: still going to school, still learning a profession, still working, having fun…but inside, they are dead. These young people no longer know why they live, they wonder: Does life have any meaning? They cannot answer on their own and they are in need of help answering.
It is necessary to have an ideal, a fundamental conception of man, a view of life, a truth about man to refer to life, if one wants to answer the question: What is fulfilling our life?
Pull
In their life, young people always face many challenges, always have to live in the tug of war between opposing forces from the desire to live and from the world around.
Contradictions in many aspects of everyday life expose young people to inner conflicts.
The image of busy parents in work clothes is in stark contrast to the expensive fashion clothes encountered in society. The simple meals that my mother cooks are often not as attractive as the dishes that are advertised a lot and are easily ordered online. The orderly and disciplined life in the family or the classroom can compete with the freedom and freedom in cafes, tea rooms, discos.
Social responsibility and family obligations (especially the demands of filial piety) always seem to be at odds with the desire to make an individual difference. What a sophisticated advertising technology system is pouring down every day seems to be shimmering, more attractive than the beauty hidden in the family, school, in social charity and even in the sense of self-worth. close. In such a context, the question “What is truly fulfilling my life?” This is a fundamental question that cannot be lived without.
To answer this question, perhaps each person needs to know how to look deep into his or her heart so that he can think and know himself. It is a sad fact that the “models of life” promoted by consumer society are far from true values.
That being said, it must not be forgotten, for this is a dangerous temptation and any concession has deadly consequences. That is, an insatiable race towards material possessions, while there are useful possessions, there are surpluses, and there are harmful ones, which can lead to where it turns into aggression towards others and towards oneself. These are “living patterns”, but can also be said to be “dead patterns”. All over the world, there are places where it is clear that so many young people are dying.
What is most striking, is that many times such “dead” young people are those who have much if not everything on the level of material wealth. But it is from that experience of fullness that arises an indefinable boredom, which irritates and contaminates their will to live. So this is not the direction we are supposed to follow to fulfill ourselves. Life cannot be completed in such a way.
Many people have tried to help them find the answer “how to complete life”, find their own unique development path. Their need for help raises a question for adults, for educators: How to awaken in every young person: dignity and a unique personal journey?