I'm a Millennial

I'm going to go ahead and say it. I'm proud of my generation.

Why do Millennials get so much criticism? I recently watched a video (This is Why You Don't Succeed—Simon Sinek on the Millennial Generation) and thought..."hmm, this guy seems to have some valid observations."

But the more I thought about what he said, I disagreed with many of his views. Mostly because of the over-generalizations he makes that don't apply to anyone I know. But also because he makes it sound as if we just floated through childhood and school, and have never known hardship when we reach the "real world." We have no patience. Everything is instant for us. Seriously? No, it isn't. Hours of studying, practicing instruments, training for sports...I know a lot of people in my generation that have some serious dedication, just like every generation. No hardships? My mom had breast cancer when I was a child. Who doesn't go through hardships?

So, I've been thinking. What do I see in my generation? I see creativity. We're EXPLODING with creativity. Self-awareness. Flexibility. Passion. Entrepreneurship. YouTube, Kickstarter, and Etsy are proof of that. People teaching, people learning, people making and creating. Oh, hello there, Dr. Suess.

My favorite thing about us is that we question. We wonder. We prod at the boundaries of society. And I'm a conservative person. I tend to stay on the cautious and slower path to change. But I'm not interested in unquestioning obedience to tradition. If I'm going to do something, I want to know why. It will be my own conviction. Maybe this is why people consider us to be resistant to authority? For myself, it just means that I'm really scared of giving myself wholeheartedly to something that is going to fail me. I've been disappointed before and I'm trying to keep that from happening again. My foundation, and everything I believed in and was committed to, betrayed me. I'm starting over. This time, I want to be sure. So, if I question, don't consider it rebellion. It's simply caution. It's wanting to build on a solid foundation. It's needing to find the truth.

As for our faults, I'm sure we have them. Aren't we all struggling with finding a balance with technology in our lives? It has saturated our world so quickly in the past years, that we don't always know how to handle it. Sometimes, I spend too much time on my phone. But I want balance in my life and try to be present in the moment.

Generations seem to be like a pendulum. Ideas and ways of living swing one way and then back the other. Balance. Even like the politics in our country. Yes, they may go one direction we like for a few years and one direction we don't like for a few years. But that is probably the closest we can get to balance.

So, what do Millennials want? I don't know. That would be a generalization. What do I want? Simply to be happy. And respected. Because I am a thinker and I do have ideas and I am trying really, really hard.