As I get older and come closer and closer to finishing high school, I've noticed one thing about not only myself but those around me... We all suck at growing up and we all suck at "adulting."
Being a Millennial I am allowed to write about the disadvantages that no cares to acknowledge. I am allowed to bring light to situations I think need to be helped.
But we are so sheltered and sensitive that I am scared to form my own opinions and speak of them. Problem number one, ladies and gentleman.
We have so much more access to information than those before we did. We have the ability to become educated and smart about politics and controversies that tear us all apart, and instead of using that knowledge to fix problems and bring us all together, we have been programmed to think that our opinion is the only right one and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks because they're all wrong.
That is what kills us.
That mentality that everything you do is right, is what is destroying us little by little. Because you aren't using your opinion to help or shed light on topics, you're using it to prevent the idea that someone else could be right and ultimately change the way things are fixed or gone about.
Every single generation before us left behind something that was so memorable and made them completely different from the last.
In the 60s and 70s, equality and violence movements started to occur, bringing light to racism and domestic abuse, the 80s and 90s started the technology era and started giving rights to LGBT communities. But what about us? What have we done?
Studies have shown that as a generation we struggle more with mental illnesses and self-image than any other generation by at least 67%. On top of that, we are trying to deal with an insane new job market.
Instead of living in a world where we have one solid and successful job, we have temporary gigs and several different means of income just to get by. There are more of us who would rather be Uber drivers and food deliverers than plumbers and electricians and x-ray technicians, etc.
So honestly, what has happened to us?
The answer is simple; We have been given every single thing we could ever need and want.
Growing up in a world of technology and stable households, most of us haven't had to work for much of anything. So after graduation, when we are forced to manage money and loans for college on top of working and paying bills and going to school, we become overwhelmed and stressed and give up, leading us to fail and suffer in a debt we are unable to come out of.
Personally, I want more than anything to see our generation succeed. To prove those before us wrong, that we are smart, healthy and happy people who are capable of leading this world to peace and success, but with older generations tearing us down and talking down to us, we are unable to do that.
It doesn't matter how many opportunities we have to succeed, if we aren't given the confidence and tools to get there, then it will not happen.
Altogether, we have to learn how to cope. How to be by ourselves. How to support ourselves. On top of the negativity and being looked at under a microscope by the generations before, we are the reason for our own failure and only we have the power to change it.
So yes, we have been blessed with the iPhone X. We have been blessed with technological advances and access to more information than ever before, along with self-driving cars and nice ass Adidas. But being a Millennial sucks. And we still have so much to learn and overcome, but we need help from those who have already learned all there is to learn. None of us can do this alone. So let's stop trying.