Advice is never hard to find. Good advice? Well, that may take a little more looking.
Consider, for example, the many suggestions to simply “live in the here and now” and to “do what makes YOU happy”. There are certainly times and circumstances when these little gems are just what the doctor ordered. But as pervasive, overriding guiding principles, we may be well on our way to missing the mark.
Future Orientation
For as much wisdom as there is in the zen-like suggestion to live in the moment, there is something powerful — and necessary — in teaching our children to see beyond that. The term used in academic literature to describe this ability to imagine and value life beyond the hear and now is future orientation. In one study, the review of data from 850 at-risk teens showed a direct correlation between positive future orientation and lower levels of violence in the teenage years. [Read more…]
