Understanding Teenage Fear of the Future

[Smisha]

The above question's answer I have been searching for quite sometime now.
Hi, I m Smisha doing my 12th in Dubai and 16 yrs old.
All my friends who are guys tend to change subjects when asked about their future. They are totally not set for it and one of them do agree that he is scared of his future.
These guys are usually the brave ones but when they come to future there goes every bit of courage down the gutter!
I just want to know the reason if someone among the members (guys or gals) can help me out in this coz I want to help my friends out!
Thank you very much in advance...

 

[sr6622]

Because we as humans are inherently afraid of what we do not know. And we don't know about the future.

 

[Mk]

If we're afraid of what we don't know, then what is curiosity?

Is it the quality of a person to brave past the fear of not knowing, TO know, so there is no fear?

 

[lwymarie]

Most ppl start asking themselves 'what should i do in my life?'
And most of them realize that they are not able to do great things.
And fear comes...
It happened/happens on me.

 

[Townsend]

Because of the impermanence of nature I suspect that it is natural to fear the future. By doing so you would be inclined to over-prepare for it and thus you will stand a better chance at survival and reproduction.

 

[Jelfish]

I think it's completely natural for your friends (guys or girls) to be afraid of the future at that age. I remember when I was in my junior year of high school (~17yrs), I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was content with 'student' being my job. When you're a student, you're spoon fed information. You get positive reinforcement by doing well on tests. There's a sense of purpose, even though in reality, a history test really doesn't mean anything.

The way I see, we're all taking a road trip. In grade school and high school, we were all on a wide and well paved highway. But eventually, that highway breaks off into many exits, and the people who drove beside you all your life will inevitably take a different route. The more exits you take, the further and unreachable that original highway becomes. It's scary because despite our best intentions, no one really knows that the final destination should be. It's possible that you might take a wrong turn and end up somewhere you didn't want to be without any way of going back. Maybe that's why your friends fear the future.

If you'd like to help your friends out, I suggest that you sing them your best rendition of "Que Sera, Sera."

(apologies for the melodrama; I'm tired)