However, there's also a down side to sharing our lives on the digital space. There's seems to be this, "keeping up with the Jones'' mentality when it comes to posting on social. And content must be "curated", which tends to leave little room for raw emotion or what is actually going on in our lives.
Another things Millennials seem to be doing, or trying to do, is live their life on their own "terms". One lesson I learned from my Mom was to love what you do. I watched practice Nursing ever since I could remember until she retired in her fifties after nearly 30 years in Geriatric nursing. I saw my Mom spend extra time with patients whose families never visited. She would even have me come in some days after school and sit with residents at her nursing home. It instilled in me the idea of being passionate about whatever it was I decided to do with my life. All this to say, what I also learned from my Mom's experience was that the work was back breaking, literally, she retired because of her bad bad. She worked doubles and took on any overtime she could to make sure we would more than just get by since my Dad only had a small pension from his time in the military my Mom was responsible for the majority of our household expenses. I saw al the sacrifices she made for our family and the older I got I knew I only wanted to sacrifice my time and energy on causes or projects that I truly cared about.
However, this new found concept of living life on our own terms can be a little more complicated once you dig a little deeper beneath the surface. It seems that the idea of financial independence and setting our own schedules has become convoluted with the idea that we don't have to work hard to achieve those things. Nowadays, everyone wants to grow up to be "YouTubers', or everyone's least favorite word, 'influencer'. The problem with this is the lack of research on what it takes to actually achieve success in those mediums. When you pull back the curtain there's so much more that goes into these careers. From waking up early to plan out your content to thoughtfully deciding which brands you decide to partner with. Being your own boss has its perks but it also means that your success rises and falls on your shoulders. There's no 'blame game' here. If the ball gets dropped it's on you! What I'm getting at here is that Millennials have to grasp the idea of work ethic. And that yes, if you want the ginormous house and the fancy car, if that's really what you're working toward then you're 'really' going to have to work to get it!
In closing, us Millennials aren't these lazy, uninspired, 'snowflakes' that the media portrays us as but, we do need to organize our ideas and thoughts and turn them into tangible actions. One great example of this in my opinion is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's win over veteran Democrat Joe Crowley to represents New York's 14th district. She was believed to be "too young" and "too naive" to take on the challenge. She had bold new ideas that resonated with a younger generation to move us forward but more importantly, she executed those ideas properly by putting in the work from the ground up! She knocked on doors, she showed up at every debate, she took time out to speak with members from all different communities and she wasn't bogged down about her message coming off off 'perfect' and 'curated', she wanted it to be raw and real and just get it out there! And that is why she succeeded. She didn't just have an idea, she brought it to fruition!
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