Things we miss out on in our generation
Millennials and the generations that follow are shaping the world differently. This generation has grown up with computing in the palm of their hands. They are more socially and globally connected through mobile Internet devices than any prior generation. And they don’t question; they just learn. They celebrate individualism, and their singularity is encouraged. To be different is to be cool as opposed to weird.
Millennials have been stereotyped as lazy, entitled, and stuck on social media. While that may not be entirely fair, they are notoriously liberal, overwhelmingly supporting left-leaning candidates and favouring policies like nationalized healthcare and same-sex ‘marriage.’
Baby boomers labelled us a group of tattooed slackers and materialists, iPhone-addicted brats. Which is, of course, exaggerated but true too.
So while we call ourselves the “Internet Generation” we are surely missing out on something equally pleasurable. Let us take a look at the things that our generation is missing out on.
Happiness and Gratitude do come in small packages:
Our generation measures happiness in quantities and not in quality. The bigger the house, the happier we are. The more the number of zeroes in our bank balance, the more content we are. But what we essentially forget is that marble floors and kingly chandeliers do not make a home.
The atmosphere that people create makes a bricked house a warm home. You may have a big mansion to show off. However, if you do not have the time to say “I love you” to your loved ones, every once in a while, then the house is as good as being empty.
The people living in tin-roofed houses are much happier than us. Why? Because they know the value of and enjoy the small things in life. It is okay if you do not share the same bank balance figures as those of the Ambanis. It is okay if you own a small car.
We have primarily forgotten that paper boats have the power to make us as happy as owning a real one (if you know what I mean to say). We have forgotten to be grateful and happy about the simple things in life.
The things you own end up owning you.
Emotional Quotient:
The EQ, as it is called, of our generation is at an all-time low nowadays. We are slowly drifting away from the values we grew up with, just to look “cooler” in front of our peers. And this has a lot to do with peer pressure. We have become so competitive that in pursuit of getting attention and validation, we have forgotten who we really are.
We are more concerned about what is trending over the Internet than about the issues that are going on in our own household. We have a lot of time for our friends, but very little for the people who should matter the most: family.
As sad and as harsh this may sound, it is the truth. And truth never tried looking pretty.
Most importantly, we are more concerned with becoming viral citizens of the country than becoming valuable human beings.
Taking care of parents and elders has become a burden for us (most of us). No wonder that the number of old age homes around the world is rising so rapidly.
As soon as there is a threat to human life, we first take out our phones to record the entire incident rather than call for medical help! (Talk about the level of apathy!)
This is truly a sad state of life that we are leading and I hope this attitude changes as soon as possible.
Your emotions make you human. Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don’t lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier.
Ignorance is not always blissful:
As we are advancing towards a newer world, we are becoming more and more ignorant of the issues that actually affect us. We are supposed to be more aware than the generation that has gone before us. But what is happening is exactly the opposite of it.
When the violence of any kind takes place in any part of our vicinity, our first reaction is, “This has not happened to us. So why should we be concerned?” Our attitude has become more like, “Not my monkey, not my business”. We first thank God for not letting any negative instance of that kind happen to us.
Yes, it is not our sister today that was raped. Or it is not our father today that was robbed. It was surely not your brother that was bullied in school today. But just remember, the victims thought the same thoughts as you are thinking today.
Being alert and being vigilant did not cause any harm ever. As they say, it is better to be safe than sorry.
The ignorance has reached such a level where we think that one vote of ours won’t make any difference. But remember, in school, we fought with our principal for that one mark? Because that one mark made all the difference between you being promoted to the next class or being demoted.
So why can’t we have the same attitude which decides our country’s future? Hence, ignorance might be bliss, but not at the cost of our future.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
We are not comfortable with failures:
Our generation is so accustomed to the idea of always staying ahead of others that one misstep, and we feel like the entire world will come crashing down. We become distraught with failure to the point that we feel that not even God, can save us now. This mentality makes our discomfort with failures even greater.
This discomfort has reached such an extreme that if we fail in a particular subject or if we get rejected by the person we love, then our immediate reaction is to end our lives! We have completely forgotten what a wonderful gift life is! And it is a gift that not everyone is lucky enough to receive.
We remind ourselves constantly that life is a house of cards and we need to be careful, but no one tells us that even if all the cards we had been lost, there is always a way of building a new house. And I am sure that structure will be sturdier than the previous one.
We have forgotten that it is okay to fail and that it is never too late to start over. It is always better to try and fail than to never try at all, right?
Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.
Generation of Procrastinators:
Procrastination is delaying or postponing action; put off doing something. If I could describe the current mood of our generation in one line, then that would be “Not today!” While this line is an excellent one when told to Satan, it is not the right one when we try to postpone important things or events of our lives. We tend to postpone something as simple as a haircut for the next time and that next time is just like tomorrow; it never comes.
Procrastination also makes us adventurous. How? Well, when was the last time we submitted an assignment without the professor calling our parents to complain about our reckless behaviour? Yes, we have all procrastinated until our tails have truly been set on fire.
The really happy people are those who have broken the chains of procrastination, those who find satisfaction in doing the job at hand. They’re full of eagerness, zest, productivity. You can be, too.
We all suck out the marrow, but choke on the bone:
Confused as to why am I talking about bones and marrows? Well, the original line was “Sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean choking on the bone”. This line is from the film “Dead Poets’ Society”. It basically means that enjoying your life does not mean being reckless with it.
This has become especially important for our generation because we have the habit of living a fast-paced life. While we all are trying to make the most in life at the highest speed possible, we often forget that sometimes, slowing things down too has its own charm. And it is necessary too.
Well, I hope that it is never too late for us to start taking pleasure in the simple things of life and I sincerely pray that we get to live the most of our lives while we still have our values and beliefs in the right place. Because we are the future and we’re building tomorrow.
So, will Generation X and the Millennials do a better job running the world than the boomers have? Let’s hope so.
