pith…

The year of 2009 is young, but Generation Y should start working on our New Year’s resolution right now.

As someone who is pushing thirty, I’m sick of hearing the common mantras of my generation: “I don’t have time,” or “I’m used to doing things my own way,” or “I guess I’m kind of selfish with what I’m used to – I’m scared to change,” and the list goes on and on. These are the maxims of my generation.

My generation, in comparison to our baby-boomer predecessors, are a bunch of self-interested whiners controlled by our inhibitions and our unrelenting capacity to serve ourselves. We are afraid of changing ourselves. We are lazy when it comes to satisfying someone else. We are about our needs. We, mildly put, are about ourselves.

I may be making a generalization, but when the majority of people I associate with (or communicate with) act this way, it’s hard to avoid not mentioning it. Not only is this the general tone of colleagues and friends of mine, but also I have gathered that this is the undertone of the majority of my generation.

I purposely spark discussion at a bar or coffee shop only to hear, “well, I have to do this or that tomorrow” or “I’ll take a look at my schedule” or “I’m just so busy; I don’t know if I have time.” The beautiful thing about it is we’re not busy!, we just want to do what we want to do! Without even taking into account someone else’s wants, we often denounce them, as if they would alter the sanctity of our own glorious (i.e. sub par) schedules.

And it doesn’t stop there. With the function of the everyday family changing, the choices of my generation are being tested even more. The choice to live at home with mommy until you’re 35 isn’t out of the question. The choice to not get married, because you are too afraid to risk it in “today’s society” is a common defense. Fear, hesitancy, selfishness and anxiety are becoming too much of a theme for my generation.

With this mentality, we have become the whiners – people who want things handed to us, but don’t want to work hard to achieve them. We look for guidance from others, but are afraid to look into ourselves. We need help desperately in time management. We need to reformulate the American family. “I just don’t have time!” And…you get the idea, ad infinitum.

These insecurities and hesitancies make my generation peculiar, but it also makes us vulnerable. In order to be successful, we must be strong and look past our self-interest. This means that in many ways, we need to change, and soon.

Cheers to a tough, but attainable New Year’s resolution!