The Human’s Guide is a concept of optimal development from childhood to adulthood. Instead of looking at what is wrong with society and individuals, I tend to look to what is going right and what has already worked. When the population was sparse and we lived in tribes, each generation learned the collected skills of that tribe in order to survive. The young were eager to learn to hunt, gather, sow, heal, sing, and dance. The elders were eager to teach, mentor, and live by example. Only by investing in our youth the collected knowledge of our tribe, will we survive. The Human’s Guide will attempt to describe optimal development through childhood to the adolescent rites of passage on into adulthood. It is the stories and skills beyond readin’ ritin’ and rithmatic, that we need to be successful adult members of our tribe.

Childhood is the preparation for life in which we learn the information and skills to be successful adults. This shift occurs so dramatically in adolescence that we believe that older generation is useless and the younger is clueless. Not true. The members of the older generation are mentors with specific survival skills to teach. And the members of the youth are the hope for out continued success as a people.

Adolescents demand freedom without accepting much responsibility. They naturally separate from parents physically and philosophically but they are still not complete. They need mentors. Parents are wise to surround their children with adult members of the tribe who reflect their shared values. Who tell them that freedom is responsibility. During this difficult time parents also need to let go and discover who their child is, not who they wished them to be.

We develop Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually, throughout our lives. We must strive to reflect on our accomplishments and ourselves. If this reflection yields a disappointment or dissatisfaction then we return to a mentor to fill in any missing life lessons.

The human’s Guide is intended to show that we are naturally able to develop, with the help of mentors with the end result as a productive member of the human tribe, who is capable of adapting to the needs of his/her environment. The person can Work, Love, and Play, which is leading a balanced productive life.