We are the future. We are the next presidents, doctors and teachers. Our generation is in control of the years to come, and with all the political and societal chaos going on right now, I am not sure what that future will look like.

Millennials often get a bad rep these days which stems from the judgements made by our elders. But have you ever taken a minute to think why that is? Let’s be honest, we live in a completely different world than our parents did 30 or 40 years ago. It is now acceptable, and legal, for people of the same sex to get married. Marijuana is considered medicinal and even recreational in some states. More people are changing their genders than ever before. All of these drastic changes must seem absurd to those who grew up in a much more conservative bubble years ago. So maybe that’s why we are so quick to be judged. It's 2017 and we have now popped that bubble. But that's okay.

Society is changing ever so rapidly and millennials are beginning to get lost in the commotion. There will always be radical liberals, radical conservatives and everyone in between throwing their opinions and agendas around. There’s nothing we can do or say to make everyone agree with the next person. And that is what we need to understand instead of constantly fighting and trying to get people to agree with us. We need to accept that our way is not the only way things happen today. The only thing we can all agree on is that we want to live in a peaceful world. But it's time to realize that we can still work together despite our differing opinions.

People’s beliefs and opinions will probably not be swayed no matter how hard you try to convince them. If a person wants to switch up what they deem acceptable or correct, then they will do it on their own.

So how do we create a functional society with all these differing ideas floating around? By violently protesting, making racist comments or being hateful in hopes of getting what we want, we are only taking steps backwards. In order to get anything done and build a prosperous future we need to fight for what we want in a peaceful and respectful manner, which is how our country was designed to work in the first place. This happens by understanding the issues and resolving them with not just our own desires, but the desires of others in mind and then try to reach reasonable decisions.

Let’s be the generation that gets it right. Let’s be the ones who come together to get things done despite our disagreements and set an example for the generations to come.

The way we do this is to coexist, and the key to coexistence is communication.

So let's start listening to each other. Let's communicate. Let's put ourselves in other people's shoes for a change. I know it may be difficult to accept the new ways that people do things or even to accept who runs our country, but let’s face it, there’s nothing we can do about it. I might disagree with some things that the next person thinks is a basic human right, but I need to let that person be. It doesn’t mean I have to support or even accept what they believe. Just understand, communicate and coexist. The only way to form a peaceful and fruitful world is to coexist. So let’s be the generation to do it the right way.