I’m sure you’ve heard the old proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day (temporary relief). Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (life-long relief).”
For me, it’s a simple philosophical way of saying we all need to be taught life skills, values, and independence, which equips us with sustainable lifestyles. There was a time when acquired skills provided solutions to most economical problems that families (and the world) faced. If you didn’t have a trade or hands-on experience in a specific area, you could easily be cut out of the competitive job market. To top it off, an acquired-knowledge certification (a.k.a. college degree) became the established icing-on-the cake to help secure your future. Pretty much the guarantee you were smart, right?
Well, meet the technical age of society and her game-changing rules of the workforce. Rule No.1: Forget everything you learned about “the climb” to the top of the work ladder. Nowadays, you can simply log into Google mail, create a YouTube channel, upload some random content inviting an audience to view-like-share-subscribe, and voilà — an income stream right in the heart of your basement with a bowl of cereal and dark roast coffee.
As a Gen X mom — and close neighbor to the Baby Boomers and Millennials — I was definitely raised (and trained up my own children) with the principles of learning hands-on life skills, personally and professionally. It shaped me into the survivor I am today in a sink-or-swim world. I’ve got some pretty tough skin, too. But boy, let me tell you. Years ago, I went fishing for the first time and nearly passed out trying to hook a little ‘ole worm on my fishing rod. My husband made me commit or else sit back and watch, until I was ready, of course. I mean come on, now. You and I both know that poking a wiggly invertebrate onto a curved piece of metal is not the most fun — for me or the worm. Fast forward to my first catch (a huge catfish by the way), I had to calm my gasps while unhooking this giant monster of a fish growling and biting at me with hostility, if I wanted to fry up some good fresh fillets for dinner. Fishing is fun, but certainly hard work. Most importantly, it is an accomplished skill (that my children cultivated in their youth).
Moral of the story…it takes sacrifice, courage, will power, and commitment to be “fed for a lifetime.”
In this issue, meet our 2025 Class of 10<20 — an impactful group of youth who intentionally roll up their sleeves to do the hard work — plus, check out some other good features. Have a safe and adventurous season of sun. And, hey, take the kiddos fishing, will ya!
Later, my friends!
Erika Cain