My Generation Needs to be Humbled
Getting real before it’s too late.
I graduated from college several years ago, stuffed to the gills with congrats cards and assurances my entrance into the adult working world would be met with much fanfare. It is intoxicating to a naive twenty-two year old, high on the praises of girlfriends and professors, dreaming that companies will be slobbering all over themselves, desperately outbidding each other in an attempt to win your favor. As if you were some sort of monarch whose royal breath could change their fate.
But looking back a few years later I see not the blazing trumpets and adoring fans, but a lot of rejection letters and quiet evenings. The last few years have been, in a word, humbling.
And so I think I can speak for many when I say my suspicions have been confirmed, my generation has an attitude problem. We are arrogant.
By now, the media line on my generation’s flaws is a familiar tune. Last year, Time ran a cover story calling us “The most narcissistic generation ever.” While I respectfully disagree with some of the minor points made in the article, I believe the underlying theme is true: our egos are way too big.
But it’s not just the arrogance that bothers me, it’s ignorance too. We are the most educated generation ever, but we don’t know much about how to live well, and perhaps worse, we don’t even seem to care that we don’t know.
Many times I have walked into a party, a meeting, or an interview, and acted like I am The. Most. Interesting. Man. In. The. World. When in reality, the person who is forced to listen to me often lives a much richer, fuller life. Twain was right, it actually is better to keep your mouth shut and let everyone think you’re an idiot than to open it and remove all doubt.
I heard Clarence Thomas speak a few years ago (Yes, I know, it’s hard to believe but he actually can talk) and one of the things I remember him saying was “too many people go out and try to conquer the world before they conquer themselves.”
I wonder if he’s right. A lot of us are trying to conquer the world, building apps and Twitter followings, acting like we are God’s greatest gift to mankind. Actually, since most of us either don’t believe in God, or think we are Him, maybe we are our own greatest gift to humanity. I literally shudder at the prospect of voting our current narcissistic selves into political power in a few years. You think Washington is self absorbed now? Just wait another fifteen years for all the mini Justin Bieber’s to start campaigning.
So I wonder if we’ve actually taken the time to conquer ourselves. That’s why I think we need to be humbled.
But being humbled is not fun and it’s not something to tweet about. It only comes when you realize you’re not the best. That other countries and societies want it more than you do. That they spend their nights at the desk and not at the bar.
I’m grateful for the hard times. I’m grateful for the tough economy, and I hope the rest of my generation is too, because it is beginning to humble us. Maybe someday, before it is too late, we can wise up and lose our arrogance and ignorance.
I dream of the day when my generation can take the reigns of our culture and live up to our incredible potential. But that day will only come after we decide to humble ourselves and listen to our critics. Only then could we say that if we have taken society further it is because, like Newton, “we stood on the shoulders of giants.”
