It's no surprise that in the world we live in today, people are always looking for a place to point their fingers — the government, schools, rich people, poor people, my boss, etc. Blame comes naturally for a lot of people, but tell me it's not sometimes biased. Actually, no. It's always biased. Blame isn't determined by the facts anymore; blame goes to the one person or a group of people who are deemed most likely to be at fault.

What does this have to do with millennials? I'm just getting started.

I asked around for some thoughts from millennials about the way they are categorized based on their age and the decade they were born in. While in some cases, certain allegations against millennials are supported by fact, they do not, in any way, describe our entire generation.

For the sake of confidentiality, these have all been kept anonymous.

"I don't care so much about having kids as I do about having dogs."

It's not that we don't want them at all, but we don't necessarily plan our lives around when we want to have children. I know that I'm not planning my life around it, and many millennials are concerned with other factors in their lives besides creating a family. Whether or not it's ideal, we, as millennials, get a lot of crap because of this. It's our life and we have the right to choose which direction we want it to go.

For the ladies out there, check out To The Girl Dreaming of a Career Before a Family.

"Just because we're 'millennials' and we're all grouped together
doesn't mean we're all the same. We're all very different."

You'd think this one was obvious, but it's not. Millennials range from different ages and different backgrounds. We identify ourselves according to what we believe in and we aren't afraid to show the world who we are. Yes, we, as the younger generation, have banded together to support larger causes (such as equal rights for all colors and sexual orientations), but that doesn't make us one person. We have opinions that differ among ourselves. We're open-minded and we embrace change; something older generations have yet to achieve.

"There are a lot of stereotypes about millennials but what is true is that
we are willing to work as hard as possible to achieve a goal for a cause that
we care about."

Has that not always been the case? Shouldn't we, as millennials, as the generation others keep an eye on, as future investors and world leaders, as human beings, have a goal to work hard for? Why do we get scolded for being lazy or wanting to have everything handed to us? How can that be if we actually work harder than most? Could it be that those accusations of not working hard enough are petty and irrational opinions?

"There's a lot of negativity around the word 'millennials' these days. I think it's empowering that a lot of millennials are doing what they want to do, and aren't feeling forced to get a 9-5 job or get married right away or have a baby...That's amazing because that's sort of the giving the finger to the American Dream, which isn't EVERYONE'S dream. It certainly isn't mine."

We do not have to follow suit with what our parents did or what our grandparents did. Yes, there are millennials who have families, whether or not they're married, but that does not, under any circumstances, indicate a path for all millennials to follow. We work hard for ourselves and for our future. But we also work hard for what we believe in. We express ourselves better because we don't shy away from being the welcoming face down the street. We embrace all change, with technology, with society, with the world. We experience hardships first-hand as our economy is working on re-building was what damaged even before we were born. We strive to be the best version of ourselves in order to help others do the same. We do not want to fit in; we strive to stand out.

See, what I think the issue is, is that millennials do their own thing. They do what they love to do, and it does not matter if they get compensation or recognition for it. As long as they love it, it's reward enough. We see people so mentally damaged from doing what they hate but having to do it anyway to pay the bills that we decided it was time to break that chain. Why are we going to succumb to follow suit into an unhappy life? That didn't make sense. So we broke free. We created new paths and we continue to create new ones every day. It's not about being lazy or selfish; it's about working hard for your future, to make the world a better place, and striving for success.