Young Voices Matter (ft. Natasha Joy)

I’m excited to share with you a guest post written by Natasha Joy, a lovely writer and friend who recently launched her new author blog! This post is full of truth and I hope it will motivate and encourage you on your own writing journey!

Young Voices Matter

Throughout my entire life, I’ve heard and been told–and I’m sure you have too–time and time again: “Be quiet, no one asked what you thought,” “Children are to be seen and not heard,” and, “You’re too young to be voicing your opinions.” It’s upsetting and heartbreaking. 

These seemingly harmless comments stifled my personal voice. I found myself holding back my questions and not giving my thoughts because they “weren’t important enough” to be asked, even when they were asked for. I believed no one would care. I was slowly losing my voice because of four simple, yet powerful words. “Your voice doesn’t matter.”

Now, there certainly are times we should be silent–it’s not okay to act like you know more than you actually do–but God gave us a voice and he wants us to use it. 

But why should I speak when I’m always being shut down? 

That’s an amazing question, and I have found four main reasons why we should not go silent. 

1. Our Generation does have Something to Offer

It doesn’t matter what age you are, you have something to give. God put us on this earth to give and share. You have a specific, designed purpose. You have something unique to say. 

Maybe it’s something super small. So small you don’t think it matters–but it does because it’s uniquely you. God made us all different; you have something to offer that no one else does. If you stay silent, you are robbing the world of that special gift.

2. Not Speaking Causes Wasted Dreams

How many people are spending their life doing something they hate? Each day they dread going to work because that’s all it is, work. Not the job they dreamed of their entire childhood. It may not even be what they went to school for. 

Why would someone do a job they hate when there is a career they love? Because no one took the time to listen to their ideas and encourage them to push forward. Or, if someone was gracious enough to listen, they immediately shut down all the hopes, dreams, and plans the person had, telling them they need to think more realistically and reasonably. 

Think about it: if no one encouraged you to keep writing that book, keep taking those pictures, keep making that movie, or whatever else you want to do, would you have any motivation to push forward and make that hobby a career? Of course not!

Instead they will shove their dreams to the side, convinced that they were just foolish, childish ideas. Not something that could actually support a family.

3. It’s How You Learn

I’m going to contradict myself for just one second here. In order to learn, you need to be quiet and listen sometimes, but you also need to vocalise your thoughts and questions. 

I’m sure everyone has heard the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question”, and while that isn’t entirely true, there is some merit to it. 

If you’re not asking your questions, how are they going to be answered? And if they’re not answered how are you going to learn?

4. We Are the Next Generation

What people do now affects us later. That’s a scary thought, isn’t it? It makes it seem like we should be trying to influence the choices people are making. Everything we do now will affect us later, for better or for worse.

Before you go saying, “Tasha said I need to start making choices now so my future will be better,” listen to me for one sec. For instance, this doesn’t mean you should be telling your parents who to vote for, but it does mean you should be thinking about who you believe the best candidate is, and help their campaign if that’s something you’re able to do and are interested in doing. 

And that’s just one example. There are tons of others! Just remember this principle: don’t tell people what to do and expect them to listen. Instead, do what you can to bring about the result you want to see in an appropriate way. If you really want people to hear your voice, you have to be respectful and listen to them too.

Your Voice Matters

It doesn’t matter what age you are, what you say is important. And I’m not just pulling this from my brain. Scripture tells us that we can be an example even when we’re young.

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 

But how do you use your voice? Try these three tips that I’ve found helpful.

1. Treat those important hobbies as a career. When people see how serious you are about something, they’re more likely to treat your decision with respect and encourage you.
2. Find those older, more experienced people who will listen to you and help you on your journey. Listening to what they’ve learned and seeking their guidance is so valuable and can save you a lot of heartache.
3. Speak! Step out of your comfort zone and start a conversation with that person who may have different views than you. Answer that question the teacher asks. Ask that question you’ve been dying to know the answer to.

This world will try to shut your voice down. The question is, will you let it? 

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About the Author

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Wasn’t that encouraging?!! Make sure to stop by Natasha’s blog for more content like this! 😉 Have you ever felt like your voice didn’t matter? How do you try to step out of your comfort zone and speak even when it’s hard? What hobbies are you most serious about?