What Do Young People Worry about？

In my younger days，

I had tasted only gladness

To write a song pretending sadness

And now I’ve tasted the flavors of sorrow， bitter and sour

And can’t find a word

But merely say， “What a golden autumn day！”

As Xin Qiji， a poet in Song Dynasty， wrote in his poem， it is believed by adults that the worries and sadness of the youth usually seem to be meaningless and shallow. They often wonder what young people are worrying about all days， and my answers are as follows. Inside teenagers’ pure hearts are cherishing beauty， the exploration to the unknown world and the anxiety to attain our dreams.

In adolescence， teenagers seem to be as sentimental as Lin Daiyu， a beauty who is said to be made of water in The Story Of The Stone. The sky is always as blue as a crying face， and the withered roses which symbolize the death of lives and beauty deserve shedding tears. Even encountering a sudden rain can remind us of terms of people suffering from woe and misfortune in another side of the world.

The question comes， why can we have such nerve-wracking confusion？ Well， what we worry about may be not very significant in adults’ eyes. It’s about the admiration to the world wonders of nature， the value of beautiful things and the sympathy of other lives .It’s the beautiful hearts， always pure， innocent and full of kindness.

From another respect， amidst winds of changes in the international world， we have a sensitive sense of new things， which is also one of the reasons. Nowadays， with the rapid development of science and economy， more and more technologies appear， enlarging our horizons. Information and new notions pour into our mind， which may be unknown even to our parents and teachers. Too many choices seem to be flooding in and incline to overwhelm us， we can not avoid being confused and lost in the crossing of our lives. Faced with the varied world， we teenagers， inevitably， would feel confused and nervous about the ambiguous future not only of ourselves， but also of the earth. As is shown in lots of surveys， in this era of “information explosion”， a general nervousness has spread across the world， also as a result of the birth of AI and the increasing of unemployment rate.

Another issue is that as many people believe， a nation will prosper only when its young generation thrive， a country will be full of hope and have a great tomorrow only when its young generations have ideals， abilities and a strong sense of responsibilities. We grow up， shouldering the responsibilities of the revitalization of the Chinese nation. So it’s reasonable to be worried and confused. But are we afraid？ Absolutely not！ We just cannot avoid worrying about whether we have been ready to stand up to the challenges and pursue our dream ceaselessly. We cannot avoid worrying about whether we have accumulated enough experience， and will make a difference to the world. We cannot avoid worrying about， on the long way of attaining our dreams of our lives， whether we can never forget why we started. But the step to the peak will never stop.

So we ponder. We always seem to be worried. But it is just a kind of spirit of teenagers. It’s not about hopeless dream， complaint or depression， but the self-inspiration， the anxiety for achieving our goals， struggling in adversity and fighting to the peak of the life. It is the general worries among teenagers that reflect their demanding self-anticipation， and the persistence despite the hardship they may experience.

Some people point out that this worldwide teenager’s worry denotes the inferiority and depression of young people， which toll the alarm of the negative influence of too much homework and heavy pressure parents give to their children. Others say that not only teenagers but also adults today have similar nervousness because of haste and intensive competitions everywhere. But I’m against this idea. A short period of sadness and blue is just as normal as happiness. And the special worries of young people are just the symbol of lovely hearts which usually disappear when they grow up. Normal nervousness is easy to be dispelled：Try to relax and be more content with the life you have had. Don’t worry too much about the gains and loss.

Just as the reason why many people cherish the memory of their childhood says， young people worry about many things， but the difference is that they never lose the love for life and the movement from the very beginning. So from my perspective， young people’s worries are just like the rain in the spring， which indicates the birth of life and the warmth of the sunshine after a whole chilling winter.

Just like the poem Tagore wrote， “Sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart， like the evening among the silent trees.” The real main ideas of our worries are just the deep love for the whole world. It appeals to us to be young forever， and shed tears for the beauty of life at every moment.

【作者簡介】任思憶，四川省瀘州高中高2016級小尖1班。