Exploring Tumblr tonight was for me how it must have been to the grown-ups when they heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I drifted from page to page wondering, “Are things really this bad for all these people?”

Then I stepped back and realized what a square I was being.

So I turned 26 last month. I swept my ridiculous narcissistic depression aside as I trudged through the workday, even as one particularly insightful customer pointed out that I am “closer to 50 than to zero.” Crack shot, Ace. You’re closer to tuberculosis than to cheesecake.

But I have to say, the cynical bag was right. There really isn’t much getting around those numbers. And while it’s hard to call 26 “old” without soliciting scolds from a universe of non-26’ers, it’s certainly not young enough to excuse my lack of direction, motivation, and…

yadda yadda yadda…sigh.

The working title for this blog entry was Dammit (I guess this is growing up?). A not-so-clever reference to a group of  20-somethings who got rich touting the apathy and misplaced angst that I am now lamenting. Poetic justice, perhaps, that it was somehow in fashion to be this way that long before it was my time to wax.

There is hope, though, manifested through positive relationships, new knowledge and insights, and the will to push through adversity and spring into the future. Right? Surely.

In keeping with my personal tradition of open-ended questions and collaborative (unfinished) thoughts, what do you think, world?

I must say that I have a terrific job. By the simplest definition, I work in a retail Wine Store. A slightly more expressive take would be that I get to learn about, talk about, and taste wine all the time. There are definitely less interesting things to be doing for a living at age 25. I love all my co-workers, too. I’m sure they have the same idiosyncracies that yours do, but no doubt there are good people all around the room. It’s a family business, and there isn’t a better family to be a part of.

It is a great blessing to do what you love, surrounded by people you like, and make a good living doing it. I must say that like (most) all young people, I do wonder where the current is taking me. The days of the “Company Man” seem to be all but a finished chapter in the book of human economic progress. So what is today’s young person to do, in responsible preparation, to secure his or her place in an ever-changing, increasingly globalized workforce? What is the key to prosperity in the new global economy? Should young people trust that a college degree will help land that dream job? Can it be taken for granted that it will help one to get a job at all?

It’s tough for people our age to know what the smart path is. In our “live for the moment” culture it’s become almost too tedious to think about where we are headed, both as (singular) persons, and as (a global) people. This seems even more true in the light that most of us are blessed with what, from a historical human perspective, is an unimaginable plenty. Could it be that it is tougher than ever to have a sense of urgency about our individual futures? Have our comfortable stations impaired our instincts to survive?

What assumptions are we making about the global future of economics? What assumptions can we make? Will the future exist only in e-commerce? Will retail businesses crumble as new technologies allow producers to connect with consumers directly, offering goods at direct prices? What new business model will emerge to provide jobs for the growing number of global citizens, when retail providers and other historical “middle men” are removed from the paradigm? Will the model be based on production, rather than resale? What can billions and billions of people produce to sustain themselves without destroying the resources that sustain us all?

As I said, I love my job. I feel like I could do it forever. Will I have the opportunity to do it forever? How will I know the answer to that question before it’s too late?