In recent days, I find myself face to face with those that feel as if they have been burnt by life. Those that have not before felt loss or pain in the way that would amount to justifying feeling the way that they feel. Those young enough to be at the age where you think you know what's best in the world.

I remember that age, but I also remember that I didn't have time to dwell on that self imposed misery. It's hard to know what misery felt like when you never had any real fun in your life. You begin to think that living a life the way you do is normal and should be normal. I don't think I would have grew up the way I did without having such a skewed perspective of good and bad, and I guess I haven't.

So it's hard to sell to others the optimism you have towards their self imposed darkness. It's hard to convince those locked in their own self-pity and perspectives of joy that you can learn to appreciate bad along with the good. You can't do that, because very few people have lived with that kind of perspective all their life. Even fewer still have learnt to live in that kind of world in peace with themselves.

All I can do is to listen even if I don't agree. All I can do is to nudge where I can't explain. All I can do is appreciate what it was like to be at the age where innocence begins to crumble and you learn the way the world really works, because I know the alternatives could be worse. All I can be is the light in that darkness and maybe you won't have to go through where I walked before.

But what about you? If you were thrust into the role where your lost years looked on to you for their own brand of hope. What would you do?