But I have another thought. Like you, I’ve traveled abroad. I’m from a small town in Montana, and grew up pretty sheltered. When I was 14, I traveled to Mexico to work in an orphanage. When I was 15, I built a high school in a tiny village in Guatemala. Sometimes I think that the direct contrast of my sheltered childhood and working in the third world sparked a lifelong desire to understand the big picture. I skipped the slow cultural conditioning which many go through…which I believe slowly numbs them to the world’s challenges. When I read this post, it felt like reading my reflections on my trip to Guatemala. I can only guess that you shared some aspects of my experience.

Our generation is full of people like you and I. We refuse to accept the existing reality, the fear mongering, the small thinking. Many of us want a vision to aspire to, and regardless of your politics or mine, this is probably a reason for Obama’s popularity.

At such a crucial moment in history, it’s never been more important to see the big picture. People like you and I have a critical role to play. The challenges we face demand solutions that understand diverse aspects of the problem and a synergy of available opportunities.

I think you’re already much farther along than I was at 15–certainly much more eloquent. If you allow me to give one piece of advice, it would be the following: in your search for answers, you’ll discover each problem is part of a bigger problem. The more you look, the more you’ll see how screwed up our world is. Your search for the big picture will probably take you through politics, philosophy, history, religion, and I can guarantee…you’ll often feel overwhelmed. But you’ll also see the many opportunities available to us. They are out there, and they are wonderful And that can give you hope. As Thomas Paine once said “The Mind, once enlightened, cannot again become dark.” Another perspective, of course, is that ignorance is bliss. If you go down this road, you give up living the simple and innocent life. But I know you’d never be satisfied with that!

So I offer this advice: Stay hungry. Stay curious. And always stay optimistic. It’s not certainly not easy…but IT IS possible. The way I see it, the survival of humanity depends on people like us. So no pressure!

“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”
- Robert F. Kennedy, in a speech in the US Senate (9 May 1966)

Good luck Michael. I’ll see you at the top.

Major kudos to you – you’re a real inspiration to someone losing a lot of faith in local-thinking humanity.