Get Off Your Ass And Make This Generation Great

Not too long ago I wrote a piece in rebuttal to the article gracing the cover of Time Magazine titled: Generation ME ME ME. I did my best to defend Generation-Y against the tongue-lashing we were being given — unlike many people, I do believe that millennials are more than just lazy entitled kids.

We’re lazy, entitled kids who have the ability to inspire the masses (emphasis on that last part). We are a generation that can do much, but more often than not does less. Of course, this is not specific to our generation alone — it is only human nature to be lazy and to fail to do much with your life. If anything, our generation has done more to inspire than most (taking into consideration for how short of a time we have been in this world).

We are a generation that is hungry but too lazy to walk over to the supermarket. We like convenience and comfort. This flaw may be our downfall, but I have hope in our generation that we will come out gloriously victorious over our own poor habits — someday.

We are living in a world that has shrunken in size significantly from that of our forefathers. Communicating globally is not an issue and time is of no concern. We are operating at the speed of light and information is being shared at alarming rates. We have been given a great gift: access to the world and the ability to share ideas, concepts, theories and to inspire. The world is now our platform and as the reach of Internet access expands and grows, so does our platform and our audience.

The only problem is that we don’t use this gift to our advantage. Instead of sharing love and inspiring, we use it to troll and spread hatred. This, of course is not globally the case. There are many among us who use the available resources for good and for the positive. Unfortunately you don’t hear about this as often as you might hear about the people who commit suicide as a result of being embarrassed publicly on a global platform.

There is something innate in all of us that feeds on putting others down. I believe this to be our survival mechanism — hit before getting hit. Put others down to prop yourself up. This is just another way in which our species flexes its lazy muscle. Instead of doing our best to better ourselves, we prefer to lower those around us to get ahead.

We like to keep others wounded so that we may flourish. Why is it that no one realizes that such instincts need to be buried in order for the world to be better off as a whole? We no longer need to fend for ourselves. Yes, I understand that this is not true for the entirety of the world. I understand that there are places where you have no choice but to do what needs to be done in order to survive. But we do not live in such places. If you are able to read this article on your own computer then you have no excuse for committing the atrocities that our generation commits.

All of our negative actions can be attributed to our innate laziness. It is the reason why we fail to reach for greatness. It is the reason why we adhere to complacency. It’s a shame because our laziness causes us to miss out on life — instead of doing and being active, we prefer to remain stagnant and allow for stimulation of the senses via television set.

We miss out on the little things in life, which have brought pleasure to the world for centuries, before we relied on electronics as life-support. When was the last time you took a walk for the sake of taking a walk? When was the last time you spent an entire day away from your laptop or iPhone? The world is here to be our playground, there is no need for us to rely solely on the virtual world that we created. Real experiences and interactions with nature are what truly bring inspiration.

So what is it that our generation can do to get out of this pattern of habitual sluggishness? I feel that most of us want to be successful and want to be remembered as people whom were driven and passionate — but most of us have yet to find what it is that we ought to do with our lives. The state of the economy is depressing. The state of the world is depressing. There is so much negativity going around that it is easy to be bored down upon into stagnancy.

Negative thinking and the search for a quick fix of excitement is keeping those Generation-Yers that have yet to make something of themselves frozen in place. The only place to start is in the mind. We must do our best to rid our thoughts of negativity and to focus on the good in the world — if not the good we see, then the good that we wish to see. Mahatma Gandhi was right when he said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”

Finding your passion and being inspired is not something that can be forced — it does take time. At the same time, though, it ought to be worked toward. Keeping your mind focused on what is most important to you will make it easier for you to block out all that is less important. It may very well be that you are simply enjoying your life at the moment, but more often than not, moments such as these stretch out over lifetimes.

Putting everything off until tomorrow is a sure way of never getting anything done. The world needs our help and the longer we wait, the more people suffer and the more people die. Generation-Y will one day be remembered as the Great Generation. The only question is: how great? Will it be a minority of us who create the change that is so badly needed? Or will it be the majority? It’s up to you. You, sitting there and reading this will play a part in the fate of humanity. Whether you affect it positively, negatively, greatly or negligibly is up to you.