The generation of millennials (1980-1999) is known for being the generation that is always on their phones, always tweeting or sharing or texting. We are known for being more involved in a life of technology than a life of substance. This is our identifying characteristic, however, our obsession with technology should not be our most distinguishing point, nor should it be considered either our greatest strength or our greatest weakness.
As a whole, we are known as the idealist generation. We are firm believers in self-expression. Our youth brings confidence and our passion brings drive. We are also known as a more community oriented and caring generation, a fact that most people seem to forget when generalizing our generation as one. The plain fact is that the greatest obstacle my generation, as well as all other previous generations, face is other people. While I am writing to millennials, the truth is that this is a universal problem that everyone has faced in one sense or another at some point in their life.
There are countless articles floating around the internet arguing why my generation is the worst yet, entitled anywhere from Millennials Don’t Stand a Chance to 7 Reasons Millenials Are The Worst. It is also evident that people within this generation are working against others their own age. Millennials are consistently proven to have the highest bullying rate, as well as having more people per capita diagnosed with anxiety disorders and clinical depression.
Now, I realize that not everyone reading this fits into the 20-year gap that determines one to be a millennial, I am merely speaking from experience up to this point. The frightening truth, however, is that as a whole society is continuously becoming less and less happy. Americans rate their happiness significantly lower today than they did 30 years ago.
There are two factors that have the highest impact on happiness, mental and physical health. And with the increasing rates of anxiety and depression, as well as bullying - and even more significantly terror attacks - the state of society’s mental and physical health has decreased.
The astounding number of people working against people is drastically contributing to the dropping ratings of overall happiness in the United States and around the world, in all generations. Disagreeing with or not approving of someone else’s life and personal choices is not an opening for you to judge them. Further, expressing this disapproval in a way that attacks their beliefs and/or character is taking away another’s happiness for your own comfort, which is selfish and narcissistic. Just because someone lives or thinks in a way that is different from your own does not make them wrong, nor does it make you right.
Just to be clear, I am 110 percent not saying that we should give up on fighting for what we believe in. I am saying we need to start fighting the problem, as opposed to fighting the person. We need to start respecting other people’s beliefs, and subsequently their happiness. We need to seek for a change in the facts and in the problem itself. We need to consciously promote other’s happiness above proving them wrong.
