A child becomes a teenager. A teenager becomes a man. A man ripens to maturity. It is an evolutionary process that requires courage and fortitude. It is an evolutionary process that, in the 21st century, requires survival.

We live in incendiary times. We face an American evolutionary tipping point that could potentially determine the quality of our future. As I write this, elections are on the horizon; there are mass job losses, home losses, and business failures; and pricing on consumer goods is spiraling out of control according to the latest headlines. Add to this that American soldiers are at war with a deadly chameleon, an unseen enemy on foreign soil - for now. It is the year 2008.

A subplot is simultaneously taking place that we must acknowledge. It is our personal evolutionary tipping point. There is so much disloyalty, greed and violence at all levels of society that it seems our country has lost all of its bearings and our countrymen are taking pills to ease the confusion. Since we can't simply fix society or ourselves, we medicate.

We've become a medicated society with a technology driven edge, an edge so sharp that it is cutting off our sensibilities. We must stop being victims of our perceptions and surroundings and take control of our controllable circumstances, beginning with ourselves. The most likely place to begin, in my humble opinion, starts in our homes.

So I would like to share my story, in the hopes that teenagers will come to understand that there is a rich life waiting beyond adolescence and adults will realize that reaching out is more fulfilling than always reaching in. We need to regroup and refocus. We need to develop a deeper awareness of ourselves for a clearer understanding of our individual purpose in life without becoming blind to the realities of our existence. We need to reach beyond ourselves. We need to preserve our American Dream.