Those poor millennials. Apparently, the world completely changed around the time of their birth and there is no going back. Common criticisms include, "All these smart devices have made them dumb," and, "They can't do anything for themselves." Let me tell you, my fellow millennials, it's not without cause. A conglomeration of historical events has led to our futures being sugar-coated. Our parents grew up in a pretty prosperous time in history, and they have raised us to believe in a misconception. We are super special and deserve luxurious lives filled with rainbows constructed of our dreams.

For a better explanation of this, I highly recommend this article . They meant it in the best way possible and only wanted the best for us all, but this philosophy has two critical issues: one, you are not the protagonist of the world's novel; and two, as you are not, you do not deserve a magical dream-granting genie. Yeah, welcome to reality. Your Hogwarts letter didn't come, and it's not going to.

Allow me to release the Deluminator: the key to happiness is realizing your dreams. I don't mean thinking, "Oh, I want to be a pop star." If you boil down your dreams and all the fluffy stuff evaporates,then what is left is this little thing called passion. Who cares what form it takes? If you are super passionate about brewing the best coffee, then follow that. I will personally thank you later. Passion is a force applied over a length of time that causes you to do work without ever realizing it. Look through all of the smoke and mirrors and you'll find it's not about the cash and it's not about the followers. It is about you taking this wonderful life you were given and pushing it in the direction of happiness.

The difference between waiting for your genie and following your dreams is a whole lot of hard work and a little dash of realism. There is nothing wrong with having a dream as long as you realize it's not going to fall out of the sky one day. You are going to have to work for it. Even if you do everything you can, it still may not happen. That's OK. In fact, following your passion for yourself is probably the purest form of doing so.

I wish you the ability to recognize your bliss and the means to achieve it.

– That millennial who wants to live "Star Trek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" at the same time