Satjadham presents the next installment in our series "Different 
Perspective of Life."  Written by Soudary Kittivong, a Junior Political 
Science/Asian American Studies double major at UC Santa Barbara.  

What is life?  As a twenty year old youngin, I have experienced in 
years only a part of my intended length of time of a normal lifetime.
Yet, in those twenty years, I have grown through living and created the 
core of my life that will guide the way the rest of my adult life will be 
led.  There is a core of thought in my mind where ideas have developed 
through personal, familial, educational, occupational, inter-relational, and 
societal experiences.  But let's not forget how we became who we are 
today.  

There was a time when we had no worries on our shoulders, a time when 
life was fun and the biggest excitement was watching cartoons on Saturday 
or playing outside with the neighbor kids until sun down.  A time called 
childhood.  I want to remind everyone, including myself, that life can be 
hard, and it can be fun, and it can be a challenge.  So take a few 
minutes and remind ourselves of life as a child is to humble our minds, 
and to forget the pressures of everyday life, such as the irritation 
boss/co-worker, or professor, or the crazy driver that cut you off on the 
freeway.  Let's time warp back to your own childhood.  And let's remind 
ourselves of the children around us who will take care of us when we are 
(reeeeeaaaallly) old...


happy spirits
happy days.
a smile of a friend,
a hug of a small child,
perhaps your own,
perhaps not.

youth is a gift,
our bodies only have it for
a mere part of our lives,
depending on how we treat it
the longer it might last.
youth is too short
sometimes,
when we rush to get ahead
of where we are.

youth may stay with us,
but only if we appreciate
its innocence; 
how its own nature is what
created us today.
sometimes we forget we ever 
had a time of youth...
to remember how we came 
about, look today
at the youth--and remind them
of their gift, if only to
keep the youth hidden in us
alive.

jan 26,96

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