“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.”
– Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), an American author and Nobel Prize laureate known for her novels depicting life in China, where she spent much of her early life.
AH, youth. I had it once, many decades ago. That golden stage of life where knees don’t creak, the future feels like a blank check, and consequences remain little more than rumours – whispered by grey-haired elders over cups of ‘kopi peng’ or ‘teh tarik’.
“Good to be young,” my elders would say, with a sigh that mixed nostalgia and relief in equal measure. But – ah, the inevitable “but” – it didn’t take long for me to realise that being young was, in many ways, a state of blissful ignorance, supercharged by hormones and an almost comical disregard for anything that happened before the previous week.
Let’s be honest: the young, by and large, are convinced of their invincibility. This isn’t a critique. It is an observation as old as time itself.
The ancient Greeks had Icarus, soaring too close to the sun. The Victorians had Peter Pan, the eternal boy who refused to grow up. And every era since has seen its breed of young dreamers, convinced that old age is a fate reserved for the unlucky, gravity is optional, and sunscreen is nothing more than a marketing ploy to peddle overpriced lotions.
Why? Because when you’re young, your body hums like a well-tuned machine, your mind eagerly absorbs the world like a thirsty sponge, and your sense of mortality? Well, it’s probably off on vacation.
The Invincibility Complex
Picture this: it’s a Saturday night. Somewhere, a group of 22-year-olds is deciding whether to call it a night after the pub closes or venture to a place whose front door is deliberately obscured to hide an “after-hours party”. The suggestion that anything could go wrong is met with laughter.
“We’ll be fine!” they say, as if those three words form a protective shield against bad decisions and food poisoning.
It’s not their fault. Science tells us that the human brain doesn’t fully develop until around age 25, particularly the frontal lobe – the part responsible for assessing risk and understanding consequences.
So, in a sense, the young are biologically predisposed to believe hangovers are a myth and that “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” qualifies as a valid life philosophy.
But the invincibility complex goes beyond biology. It’s reinforced culturally, through movies, music, and the relentless optimism of motivational speakers. Youth is sold as the ultimate adventure, the perfect time to be fearless, and most young people buy it wholesale.
Naiveté: The Secret Ingredient
Let’s address the elephant in the room: inexperience. Of course, in my boyish ignorance, I wasn’t aware of my inexperience. The young are, by definition, new at life. This isn’t an insult; it’s simply a fact. At 19, how could I possibly have had the wisdom of someone who’d lived five decades?
This inexperience manifests in ways that are both endearing and, occasionally, catastrophic. Take, for instance, the first apartment. Young people walk into a place with questionable plumbing and walls thin enough to hear the neighbour’s sneeze and think, “This is fine”. Or the first job offer – “We can’t pay you much, but you’ll gain valuable experience”. And they say yes, genuinely believing that rent can somehow be paid in exposure.
Looking back, I can’t help but find a certain charm in that earnestness. When I was a secondary school student, I was convinced love could conquer all, friendships lasted forever, and “finding myself” was something to do over a long weekend.
I trusted people – sometimes too much – and believed in causes with the fervour of a newly minted activist. My optimism, while occasionally misplaced, was boundless.
Of course, this naiveté wasn’t limited to the big milestones. It also crept into the small, everyday moments. Taxes, for example. Why didn’t anyone warn me about taxes? I thought I needed only to write down what I earned, send it in, and receive a polite thank-you note from the government. Oh, how wrong I was.
The Moment When Reality Bites
But time eventually catches up with us all. There’s a moment, sometimes gradual, sometimes abrupt, when reality strikes. For some, this awakening happens at 25, when the brain finally finishes “cooking”.
For others, it’s when they realise their metabolism has betrayed them, and that midnight indulgences in ‘nasi lemak’ or ‘kolo mee’ now come with consequences. Or perhaps it’s when the first utility or car instalment bill arrives. Suddenly, the exhaustion of our parents starts to make sense.
And let’s not forget those physical reminders, such as the first time you hurt your back while picking up a sock, and the first hangover that lasted three days instead of three hours, or the moment you realised the fashionable shoes you wore everywhere had damaged your feet and your posture.
The disillusionment is rarely total. Most of us retain a kernel of youthful optimism. But the shift is undeniable. You start to value sleep. You understand the appeal of a quiet night in. And you begin to see the wisdom in that dreaded word: “but”.
The Generational Cycle of Smugness
It’s a rite of passage, too, to look back on the follies of youth with a mix of embarrassment and affection. Every generation thinks the one after it is particularly naïve and reckless, particularly convinced that “this time it’s different”.
And, in a way, every generation is both right and wrong. Youth always feels like it’s inventing the world anew; age is equally convinced that everything has been done before.
Consider how advice is handed down. The older warn the young: “You’ll regret that tattoo.” The young roll their eyes. “You don’t understand!” they retort, forgetting that the older ones stood in their shoes – and likely have a regrettable tattoo of their own.
It’s an infuriatingly beautiful cycle, like the turning of the seasons or the never-ending pile of laundry.
That smugness of age is earned, but it’s not infallible. Sometimes, the young do see things the older cannot. They challenge norms, break moulds, and push society forward.
Of course, they also believe that a mattress on the floor qualifies as “minimalist chic” and that three hours of sleep is a sustainable lifestyle choice.
The Perks and Pitfalls of Being Young
For all their naiveté, the young possess a remarkable superpower: the ability to bounce back. Physically, emotionally, spiritually – they recover from mistakes with astonishing speed. The first time you’re fired, it feels like the end of the world. By the next week, you’re plotting your next move, convinced it’s just a plot twist in your heroic story.
There’s beauty in that fearlessness. The young are experimentalists, trying on identities, jobs, and hair colours. They believe in change, in reinvention, in the possibility of a better future. They love passionately, dream boldly, and firmly believe that the world is theirs to seize.
But – and there it is again – that same fearlessness often leads to spectacular miscalculations. The “invincible” phase is littered with stories that begin with, “Hold my drink”, and end with, “So that’s how I ended up in the emergency room.”
Naiveté is charming – until it involves fire extinguishers, international flights, or your credit rating.
When Youth Meets Reality
Eventually, youth collide with reality, and the sparks fly. The young discover that landlords demand deposits, that traffic tickets don’t pay themselves, and that “just winging it” isn’t a strategy endorsed by most HR departments.
The learning curve is steep and often paved with ramen noodles and overdraft fees.But this collision isn’t a tragedy – it’s a transformation. Each mistake, each humbling moment, is a step toward wisdom.
The young learn to laugh at themselves, to be a little more cautious, a little less certain. They become the people who, years later, will sigh, “Good to be young, but…” while secretly wishing they could still stay up past midnight.
The Secret Nobody Tells You
And here’s the punchline: nobody knows exactly what they’re doing, regardless of age. The young think the old have it all figured out; the old remember they’ve been winging it this entire time, only now with more paperwork. The real difference is experience – the understanding that the world is both more complicated and more forgiving than we once thought.
For all the pitfalls of youth – the invincibility, the naiveté, the epic hangovers – there’s something undeniably magical about that stage of life. The world feels new. Every possibility is open, every mistake a lesson, every day a chance to reinvent yourself. The young are messy, glorious, and a little ridiculous – and thank goodness for it.
So, Is It Good to Be Young?
Absolutely. It’s good to be young, to feel invincible, to make a glorious mess of things. It’s good to be naïve, to believe in love and justice and the power of a well-timed meme. But – it’s also good to survive youth, to emerge a little wiser, a little more cautious, and a lot more appreciative of a full night’s sleep.
If you’re young, enjoy your youth. Make mistakes. Laugh at yourself. Listen to advice, but don’t take it too seriously. And if you’re not young, remember what it felt like. Cut the kids some slack. We were all invincible once, and the world is better for it.
Just don’t forget to separate your whites from your colours on laundry day. Trust me.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at www.hayhenlin@gmail.com
