The Millennial Mind: How We Can Keep The Progressive Mindset Going

Some days feel more monotonous than others. We generally follow a recurring series of daily events, which makes feeling like an ant on an ant farm easy. I often wonder how can I move forward and grow stronger if I'm but a mere part of such a monotonous scheme?

I believe strength and growth stem from a deeply-rooted openness of self, a yearning to genuinely feel and experience as much as possible. Close your eyes and imagine leaving your body, your home, your town and seeing the rest of the world.

You are part of a large web of millions of connections that could potentially spread across the globe, or even further. We still know so little about space and time, but we know enough to become much more than our daily routine. To think big is to feel big.

Our perceptions and their capacity are limited by the things we’ve learned and how we’ve been conditioned. But, times are changing; there is more magic in the air than there used to be.

This is because we are letting it happen. This is because our advanced technology allows for connections both near and far.

It allows for us to see how people live in all parts of the world. It allows us to have heightened awareness of events, social changes, politics and economics — everything at all angles. This is huge for us.

At our fingertips, we have the tools to expand our minds and our lives. This reality is new to the human race, and we are fortunate enough to experience it at a young age.

There is magic in everything if we open ourselves to it. If we allow ourselves to see and feel every little thing — even if it doesn’t make sense, even if it’s unpleasant or even if it’s so pleasant that we become doubtful. The more open we are to all sorts of feelings, the more receptive we will become to the different realms of this life.

And, it all starts with self-expansion. We must realize that we, as individuals, are not singular beings. We are a collaboration of an innumerable amount of events, people, emotions, substances, words and elements. We are not small. We are not insignificant.

The less we think of ourselves as insignificant, the more we can truly impact this life and the more power we will have over our evolution.

I once dreamt of a girl holding a red balloon, floating into the air and letting herself drift off into the unknown. I aspire to live life parallel to this image, allowing myself to freely flow through the unknown, while holding my own.

A surefire way to spark growth is to travel. When traveling, stay open. If you find yourself starting to judge something you’re not used to or that surprises you, catch yourself and stop. This judgment halts us from fully absorbing the experience. I try to tell myself “you are not too good for anything.”

It is important to submerge ourselves in any task at hand, free of any stigmas placed on us from prior experiences. When visiting another country, it is valuable to forget about everything you ever knew and act as if the way you are living is the only way you know how. This way, the experience has the potential to change you.

We expand as beings because others imprint us with their wisdom and words and stories. This allows us to be less alone in the world — to be part of a larger scheme, an interweb of ideas and people and energy that is much bigger than ourselves.

The idea of “thinking big” or “what you think is what you will become” is one we hear constantly. This is such an important concept for young adults to grasp.

And, it doesn’t stay with you for long periods of time, either. It is fleeting. Therefore, we must remind ourselves of it frequently. It is a practice, and one we must meet daily.

It’s so easy to feel small and insignificant, and we often cling to the easiness as a way to evade the daily challenges of life. But, what we often don’t realize is that to feel strong and significant is also easy.

It’s just more unknown and a bit scarier than the feeling of insignificance. If we delve into that territory each day and practice that act of thinking and feeling on a larger scale than our daily routine, we will start to experience the real magic that is this life.