Go for it vs. Stick with
the sure thing
Embrace your Strengths and follow those vs. Strengthen your
weaknesses and become more broadly marketable
Be who you are and potentially define your audience vs. Find an
audience and see where you can potentially fit
Step out and trust vs. Stay in and feel secure
What’s funny about my generation is that we’re known as free
spirits. People think we want to live in
community but that we also believe we have the ability to carve our own way. That we can multi-task and that we believe
we’re better off when we do. That we
believe we’re ready to take on the world.
That we believe we will be successful.
That we believe we’re talented enough.
That we believe we’re really good at what we do.
I’m not sure I buy that. There’s definitely more to the story, at
least. In many ways, I think we’re
pretty insecure. I’m not sure if it’s
because some of our most formative years came during a thriving economy- one
where technology was booming, every product, process and production was
becoming faster and smarter, and one that the next best thing was not only
expected, but it came. We were given a
lot during a time when there was a lot to give.
But now there’s less. And somehow
the reputation that my generation received is being juxtaposed with the times
that we are in.
We have a reputation for being brave and daring (and spoiled) but
we’re living in a time when security is not a sure thing. Failure is a bigger deal than it was
before. And now we’re fighting our
subconscious with our conscious. Our
confidence is trying to coincide with reality.
I know I’m trying to make sense of it all.
I grew up believing (and being told to some extent) that you can
do what you put your mind to. That if
you really believe in something, you can accomplish it. That taking a risk is generally a good thing. That stepping out on the ledge of possibility
will land you in the world of actuality.
But my reality shows me something different. Some of the best teachers I know are not
finding teaching positions. My engineering
friends are encouraged to not be creative because the budget won’t allow
it. There are others who are doing their
best to break into a new world of employment but there simply is no room for
them at the inn.
So we’re running into this wall and we have a few options to
believe. 1.) We were lied to. The world is tougher than we were told and we
have to play by someone else’s rules.
2.) We were naïve. We were actually
never told this world was easy and while we were ignoring that advice, we somehow
also got cocky. Or 3.) Life is tough but
we can’t give up. Because the truth is,
both the first and second options are true to some extent. Some of us were lied to and a lot of us were
misled- whether on purpose or by accident.
Some of us became cocky and a lot of us were naïve. And now we’re trying to make sense of it
all.
We’re trying to figure out what direction to go. For some, they’re trying to remain steadfast
in their determination to succeed but they’re being told “no” a lot more than they
expected. There’s not much room to move
and we’re a pretty antsy people. So our
questions have turned from “What will I choose to be when I grow up?” to “What can I be when I grow up?” People are now leaving dreams and aspirations
and learning to make the best out of our situations.
But somewhere within it all, we also believe that giving up now
will hurt way more in the future than it will now.
We all know the stories of the social activists and the inventors
and the athletes that could have given up but didn’t. And for that reason, I won’t Wikipedia them
and namedrop. But what I’m finding is
that while those people are inspirational to us, our current place in history still
has us believing two different stories.
1.
We should find the safe job and work there. We should live our comfortable lives because
it’s just smarter in the long run. We
should just do what we’re told. We can exercise
our creativity and strengths where we can but following the rules is first
priority. Let’s just do our best to find
a drivable road and hope that it leads to somewhere safe and gratifying.
or
2.
We should dig our heels in and live up to our generation’s
reputation. We should try to generate
our own self-gratification by following our hearts. We need to believe in ourselves and our
abilities because we’re living in a time that needs dreamers and entrepreneurs
and idealists and self-made men and women now more than ever. Let’s make our own roads and follow those.
The truth is, both options are okay. Both have their merit. Neither is better than the other. You can play it safe and still be true to
yourself. And you can dream big without
the fear of being homeless. And that’s
what makes it really hard. Depending on
the day, we say one of the two things- that playing life safe is either the
coward’s way out or that it’s responsible.
On the other side, we tell ourselves that taking the risk is either
foolish or our future self’s biggest regret should we not try it. It could be our chance to do what we love and
be in love with what we do.
So we get stuck in these one side vs. the other side scenarios.
Go for it vs. Stick with the sure thing
Embrace your
Strengths and follow those vs. Strengthen your weaknesses and become more
broadly marketable
Be who you
are and potentially define your audience vs. Find an audience and see where you
can potentially fit
Step out and
trust vs. Stay in and feel secure
This is my current battle.
And I’m finding that when both options are okay, it’s actually harder to
choose. Weigh in. I’m interested in what you have to say.
