Our generation has a lot of stereotypes, many of which are well-deserved. We’re the me generation, unfiltered in our words and actions, feeling entitled to success and wealth and selfishly ambitious. 

We’re the boomerang generation, known for our tendency to delay some rites of passage into adulthood for longer periods than the other generations before us (sorry Mom and Dad). We live as if time is for us, and we don’t have a sense of urgency to figure out what we want in our lives and go after it wholeheartedly. 

We are Generation Y, the complacent generation. We are idolizers of celebrities and reality television and are dependent on the media to tell us what to think and how to think. We are mediocre at best because we breed off the idea that we’re “good enough.” We’re narcissistic without the self-awareness that we possess that arrogance. We think we deserve the successes we don’t work hard for. We are encouraged to believe that we are who we are, and if others don’t like the bad parts of us, something is wrong with them and not us. We are told that we are beautiful, smart, and worthy of all that is good in the world. We are told that we’re special. Well, what if I said that we’re not that special? 

I’m not agreeing with any of these stereotypes. There are enough studies conducted to prove that the millennial generation is not as much of a corrupted failure as the labels suggest. So for now, we can attribute the flawed personalities that we have to the generation that raised us. 

But enough excuses. There is one aspect of our generation that I agree we need to get rid of, and it is the idea that we think we’re so special. Growing up, we received trophies for participation to spare hurt feelings. We are only encouraged to think good thoughts about each other and say nice things because apparently, we are responsible for the self-esteem of others, or lack thereof. Most of our parents coddled us and constantly told us that we were great, that we could be anyone we wanted to be, and that we deserved the best. 

Not only does the word “special” devalue in its meaning when everyone is considered so, but it also breeds complacency. It inflates our egos and persuades us that we are sufficient just the way we are. It immobilizes us from progressing into being a better person, to be more loving, educated, kind-hearted and selfless — and restrains us from wanting to be greater because we are convinced that this is the best we can do. 

You’re not special, not because you’re not a good student, or because you don’t have enough accomplishments and awards to justify your talents, or because people don’t like you. You’re not special because this ideology that we’re not serves as the only motivation to strive to be the best version of yourself. There is no room for self-satisfaction in the generation in which we live, and since the people that surround us are too afraid to offend us, we have to be dependent on keen self-awareness. Complacency is dangerous, and it breeds the stereotypes of our generation. 

You’re not special, and once you realize that, you become so much closer to becoming exceptional.