Being a part of the millennial generation is probably one of those most frustrating things about my life that is completely unchangeable. I’m not saying life as a millennial is horrible, I mean there are many positives to being a millennial. We are actually the most educated generation to date, we are the most likely to become entrepreneurs. We are aware of more social issues then Generation X, we are independent political thinkers, most accepting of differences, as well as most informed, creative, and technologically advanced. Even though there are positives of the millennials, I also know there are so many stereotypes people have about my generation that I can’t even argue because we’ve proved them right.

I’ve always considered myself an old soul, i’m always thinking of the next step, and things I can do to improve my future. I try to live in the moment, but in the back of my head I’m usually thinking far beyond that. However, one thing I’ve noticed about my generation that drives me absolutely crazy is how entitled so many of the people around me are, it’s like they feel the world constantly owes them something.

News flash: the real world isn’t full of prizes and awards for getting out of bed.

Don’t get me wrong I still have a lot to figure out about life and the world we’re living in, I mean there’s a reason I titled my blog site Adulting Honorable Mention, because there’s a lot of learning and living I haven’t done. But as a millennial I think it’s important to remember we aren’t born with all these things we deserve. Our parents aren’t required to spoil us, the world doesn’t have to be nice, and there is no book of things we just get.

I was reading an article that talked extensively about how helicopter parents were to blame, and they had caused us to feel more entitled. Laws were now becoming stricter, and it was in result of parents. Alright, maybe I can’t relate because I didn’t grow up with parents that felt obligated to insert themselves into EVERY aspect of my life, but blaming parents seems like a “cop out” millennial fueled answer. Clearly, other millennials were raised in much different households than mine.

As I child, I lived with my mom, for those of you that haven’t met Maria she’s a loud, bold, 5’5 sassy Puerto Rican woman. She made childhood fairly easy, you did what she said, and worked hard for what you wanted. So basically, if there was some weird Spanish music blaring in the house around 7a.m. on a weekend you got up and started cleaning, if she was cooking…well you better be ready for dishes duty, it was a cause and effect house. She did something for you or the house, you did something in return. She provided everything we needed in our house from food, and other essentials, BUT it was her house and you were treating her things, and our parents with respect.

High school came and I moved in with my Dad, we had the “tell me before I hear it from someone else policy.” That meant you could live without an abundance of rules if you were keeping up on school and house work. He also had the unspoken rule of: If you weren’t in a sports season, you better have a job, which meant at 14 I had my first job farming. He found ways to make us self-sufficient at an early age and in my eyes it was a respectable trait.

My parents had very different tactics in raising us, but I feel like the basis of their parenting had the same result: the world doesn’t give you anything, you earn it.

I live in a generation that thinks their parents need to pay for everything, that things will fall into place, and if they lay back and chill things will fan out.

Maybe it’s my old soul mentality but whatever happened to the American Dream? You leave your parents’ house at 18, and pursue whatever hustle you felt necessary. Whether that was college, or a family business, or maybe even a blue-collar job. You began working towards your own goals, and starting your own roots. Now I live in a generation where at least one person is still aspiring to become a rapper, or a model while living in their parents’ basement. I feel like our generation is focused on short term goals, rather than looking at the bigger picture.

Millennials are so focused on this concept of “do whatever makes you happy” what rule book did you find that notion in?? In the real world, there’s going to be times where you have to do things that don’t make you happy, it’s part of growing up and becoming an adult. This entire concept my generation uses with the implication that if it makes you happy, then it can’t be bad is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. There’s probably a list of recovering addicts, ex-wives, and homeless people that completely contradict that theory. Not everything that you do that makes you happy is good for you.

So we move on to the statement of “Follow your heart” (ugh this one is such a double edged sword). At times, do I think that you should follow your heart and do whatever makes you happy? Sure, why not…but if I followed my heart I would be a 400lb woman, Netflixing, and carb loading all day, and quite frankly, even I would probably get bored with that.  Heck who am I kidding, I can’t even sit still through a whole movie most days, maybe being a productive member of society is what my heart is telling me to do.

The fact of the matter is we’ve become such a co-dependent generation that is overly sensitive to everything. On a daily basis, we are hearing stories of people that are upset because something hurt their feelings. Everything that is produced is now censored, and people that actually have opinions are considered loud, out spoken, too verbal. When did we have to all start getting along and having the same ideas, the notion of everyone agreeing all the time just remains absurd to me.

Maybe I am looking too far in to the rules society has created but I truly think that our country was built on a great foundation. No I don’t mean that I’m against every policy change and progress I’ve read about, or experienced I truly feel that we’ve made great strides as a country. I just want to challenge millennials and every other struggling generation to become more than the stereotype. It’s okay to have opinions, and to follow your dreams, I just also think it’s important to remember that these dreams you have sometimes take a little hard work.  Stop giving in to this notion of being selfish, and open your eyes to realize that sometimes being selfless is just as efficient to get to where you want to me. More importantly I hope you realize that life is more than just getting by, and actually set goals that are part of the bigger picture.

 

Until Next time,

ME