Wit & Wisdom with Tom Greene

Things are crazy today. So I decided to write a letter to Younger Me back in 2000 so I'd be ready for some of the changes coming my way.

There was a time, not so long ago, when shame was a guardrail. It protected us from doing dumb things. But, mostly it protected us from ourselves. But, today, shame is dead. It's the age of moral relativism. That is, the definition of right and wrong is subject to interpretation. That's the kind of thinking that allows young people to have sex in a room full of people while television cameras record every second in high definition through night-vision lenses. Yes, shame is dead. Is it time to bring it back?

When life takes you on a detour through a series of potholes, focus on these five key pillars of happiness and you'll be just fine.

If you spend any time watching the news, it seems as if everyone is doing it today. I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about lying. It's become a national pastime. Do we have an epidemic of "Liabetes"?

Of the myriad of happy emotions, from gratitude to contentment, the most underrated emo is hope. Hope is the ember at the bottom of the fire that refuses to go out. It's the green shoot that appears from a scorched earth. Because when everything else is stripped away, hope is the last light that remains.

I bet at some point you went through an existential crisis. A period where you questioned "why am I here?" A period that causes you to pursue that one true thing that defines your passion. But, what if there is no single passion? What if the great learning of life is to be patient and that meaning isn't often found in clarity, but in mystery.

Today's kids are raised differently. They live their lives with structured play, guardrails and constant adult supervision. The days of adventure and courage are long gone. And, it's making an entire generation lack courage.

Take a look around. See if you can find the color red. Bet you can't? Why? Because since the 1970's we've been slowly removing color from our world. 80% of all cars sold today are monochrome: gray, black or white. And, that's just the beginning. It's leaking into movies, comedy, food, music and branding. Yes, the world is quickly going "griege".

Like everything else today, we've outsourced dying. What was once a family and neighborhood affair has been converted to an institutional and sterile process. One handled by the utmost professionalism and care. But, one that is best managed by third parties, so as to avoid the messiness of it all. This is episode number 139 and you'll likely think differently about life (and death) after you listen.