I will never forget sitting in class years ago and hearing one of my high school teachers say, "I fully believe that your generation could be the best one yet." Now, don't get me wrong, I do not disagree with him. I believe that we millennials are a curious, progressive generation. We are both open-minded and open-hearted, and that is fantastic. However, I am not unaware of our flaws either. If I could share a few humble suggestions that I believe could lead to our being the "best generation yet," they would sound something like this:
1. Boredom is curable.
I’ve found that a popular complaint among the members of my generation is that they are bored. This could mean a variety of things, from trying to “survive” without Wi-Fi for a period of time to actually having nothing to do. In my opinion, a majority of the time I find this complaint to be quite pathetic. So, from one millennial to another, listen up! Open your eyes, look around you and recognize that you have a choice.
In fact, you have a plethora of choices! You can create, play, learn, discuss, serve and even more. With this much to do in our big, beautiful world, how could you possibly be bored? There are copious varieties of ways to invest one’s time. So go out and exercise your body, mind, craft and soul. I promise that your “boredom” will disappear before you know it.
2. Apathy isn’t attractive.
One of my all-time favorite quotes reads, “I’d rather be divisive than indecisive.” I will stand by this quote till the end of my days. With everything that is going on in our world right now, it is vital that we stay informed on current events, politics and cultural affairs, especially since the members our generation are the forthcoming decision-makers for the world. Remember what I said earlier about choices? It definitely applies here as well. We each need to recognize our own personal convictions and how they can apply to bettering our world.
In short, educate and inform yourself. Find what you believe or what you’re passionate about. Defend it proudly. Use it to make a positive difference in the world. That’s all.
3. Intelligence is something of which to be proud.
Our culture has ingrained in our heads a mentality that being smart is equated with being undesirable. From a young age, we have been taught that being intelligent makes you deserving of a negative label, including words such as “geek” or “dork.”
Well, my geeky, dorky kindred, here’s looking at you. Don’t you dare change a thing about yourself. Do not stop reading, do not stop researching and, most importantly, do not stop asking questions. Knowledge, coupled with the ability to use it effectively, is the greatest and most powerful tool we have. Do not throw that away.
4. Ambition is admirable.
In many ways, I believe that ambition almost carries the same stigma as intelligence. Our generation has romanticized the concept of having no idea what we’re going to do with our lives. All judgments aside, how disappointing is that? Life is a gift and we have the ability to do whatever we want with it. Nobody can write your narrative except yourself, so why would you not be doing everything in your power to figure out how you can fill your time doing what you’re most passionate about? This could include anything from (just to name a few) working for a business to providing healthcare, teaching the next generation to making art or being a parent! I am not suggesting that every young person have a fully mapped out life, but making some kind of plan for yourself is not something to be frowned upon.
Whether it is baby steps to success or just utilizing your time best so that you can live the happiest life imaginable for yourself (or both), take the time to figure out how to get to the exact point that you ultimately want to be at in your life. You will be more likely to accomplish whatever it is that you are pursuing if you have some idea of how you are going to make it there. And to those of you who already have ideas of where you want to go, keep going. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having those dreams and goals.
5. Honesty is brave.
According to Dictionary.com, truth is defined as “the true or actual state of a matter” and “conformity with fact or reality; verity." Honesty means recognizing the truth, or recognizing the actuality of something, and that is terribly hard sometimes. It is difficult to accept things that we don’t want to believe. It’s humbling, scary and sometimes, heartbreaking. Believe me, I know. So having the ability and courage to be honest with someone, or even just to be honest with yourself, that takes an enormous amount of fearlessness. The best part about being brave during your trials, though, is that you always come out stronger than you were before.
6. You are capable.
You. Look at you.
Now take a look around. Look at this world, this scarred, dysfunctional world.
You can change that. Remember that brilliant mind I told you about earlier and remember all of that boredom you said that you had? Well here is your chance to remedy that. Get up and change your life, or better yet, change someone else’s life. Do it in whatever way best resonates with and represents who you are as a person. Now that is beautiful.
Smile. Breathe. Fight. Create. Love.
You are capable of absolutely anything, so do absolutely everything.
