Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
"Train up a child in the way he should go" gets quoted constantly, usually stripped of its context and treated as a guarantee — do this and that will happen, automatically, no exceptions. Real life complicates that reading fast; plenty of people raised well still wander far, and plenty raised poorly find their way regardless.
Read as a proverb rather than a formula, though, it says something different: that early formation matters, that what gets planted in a person young tends to stay somewhere in them even when it's buried for decades. "He will not depart from it" doesn't have to mean never straying — it can mean the path stays recognizable, something a person can find their way back to.
If you were raised with almost nothing planted in you along these lines, or if what was planted got buried under a lot of damage, this verse isn't a verdict on your future. It's an observation about how deep roots can run, for better or worse — and roots can still be planted later than childhood.
If your own upbringing left little planted along these lines, it's worth wondering whether roots like these could still be planted now.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.