millennial monday | WordSlingers

Millennial Monday – The mystery behind a generation

by Emily Howsden | Jan 9, 2017

You may have seen a video recently circulating the internet. Simon Sinek, an intellectual British/American author, speaker and consultant, sits down to discuss working with Millennials.

This talk had many valid points, but what I couldn’t help but think throughout the entire 15 minute video is why do older generations think Millennials are such a complex mystery?

As a Millennial in the workplace, I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of the stereotypical Millennial that Sinek was describing.

Do I make my superiors stand by in wonder? Do they scratch their heads at my behavior and wonder what kind of world in which I was raised? Is my workplace behavior unacceptable?

I would like to think not. However, judging by the number of people who shared the post on Facebook and applauded the points made, somewhere people are not understanding Millennials and how we function.

So, I’m going to attempt to explain how I think about some of the things that were discussed in the video.

One thing that stuck out to me was when Sinek said that Millennials were “dealt a bad hand” in the parental department.

This statement couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to my parents. However, I know people my age whose parents have severely handicapped them by enabling and making excuses for them their whole lives.

In the cases I know, 90 percent of the time it is out of love that parents have done this to their child. They truly don’t seem to realize that what they are doing will, in the long run, hurt rather than push their child towards success.

I still have a really hard time saying this is 100 percent the parent’s fault. The Lord created us all with the ability to make our own decisions, good or bad.

I know many people who were truly dealt a bad hand in the parental department in the way that their parents had substance abuse problems, or just were never there.

Those same people have become incredibly successful, sometimes in spite of their parents. So, am I supposed to believe that a child who has been loved TOO much, is not at fault for how they act as an adult?

Looking back at my childhood, I remember a verse my mother used to quote whenever I would begrudgingly do a chore or not do a chore that I was told.

“…The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).

That is how I was raised, and I will forever be incredibly grateful that my parents chose to instill Scripture into me throughout my life.

But what about the Millennial who is continuously on their phone and seems like they would rather be anywhere else? I have a couple of suggestions:

1. Don’t look at them as if they are some mysterious being. Remember when you were young? Yes, times are incredibly different, but the overall makeup of a 20-something is still the same, if you ask me. Try to be understanding; most of us are just trying to figure out being a “grown-up.”

2. Choose to find a common ground. Of course, you will have many differences, perhaps too many to count. One thing you can do is try to find something you have in common and go from there with a colleague relationship. You might be surprised at how much you have in common.

3. 1 Tim. 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” Don’t be the one who’s looking down on someone younger. It can be hard; I know this. I am only 24, and thoughts like these have crossed my mind about those younger than I. DON’T DO IT!

I hope this helps tackle some of the mystery that are Millennials. I challenge you to not let the age of a younger co-worker make you think of or treat them differently.

Be gracious, be kind and love others and let age just be a number. Could that be the most Millennial thing I’ve said all day? Most likely, but I stand by it.

Millennial Monday: Defining ‘adulting’

by Emily Howsden | Dec 12, 2016

It has been brought to my attention that superiors of mine, or shall we all laugh as I call them elders, are somewhat perplexed by the millennial usage of the word “adulting.”

I will start with my definition then compare it to different definitions I’ve gathered from across the World Wide Web.

I’ve used this phrase more times than I am proud to admit.

Most times when I use it, I’m referring to adult responsibilities that are usually not fun, maybe stressful and stuff I feel like maybe I wasn’t adequately warned about as an adolescent.

Also, this word is used by those who maybe feel like they aren’t all the way an adult yet, so performing adult-like duties may seem to be a bit of a behavior rather than one’s true identity.

TIME.com defined “adulting” in a short and sweet manner – to make someone behave like an adult; turn someone into an adult.

Another website hit it on the head, if you ask me, by defining adulting like this – to do grown up things and hold responsibilities such as a 9-5 job, a mortgage/rent, a car payment, or anything else that makes one think of grownups.

The common theme here is people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as a grown-up or an adult, having to, in fact, act like they are.

I recently saw a meme saying, “Adulthood is a lot like a board game that no one read the instructions on, nobody really knows what we’re doing, we’re all just kind of figuring it out as we go.”

That made me chuckle because there have been times where the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it” has never seemed more true.

Here’s a worthy question though: Why has my generation decided that we aren’t capable or shouldn’t have to do these types of things that people for generations have been doing?

I’m not certain, but surely we can’t be the first to complain about it… We are a vocal, meme-generating, social media activist generation, so maybe we’re complaining as those before us have, but we’re just louder?

Whether you acknowledge it or not, there are things that you do on a daily basis that you wish you could just skip.

A friend of mine just had to buy eight tires, yes I said that right, eight tires two weeks before Christmas because her and her husband’s cars had seen better days. That is what we call adulting.

Another example that may seem bogus to someone who’s been doing it for 20-plus years, but to a first time rent/mortgage-payer, seeing the biggest chunk of your paycheck go away at the beginning of every month can hurt.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t thankful that we have a place to live; it just hurts when you aren’t used to that kind of thing (Thanks mom and dad for keeping a roof over our heads all these years).

Have you started to catch on to this odd phrase millennials seem to wear out?

Who knows, maybe the next time you do something that you wish your parents could still do for you, or you get sick and the only cure would be to go home and have your mom take care of you, you may want to not “adult” for a day.

While some of us millennials need to just get over it and “get happy in the same pants we got sad in,” to quote my dad, there are others who are contributing members of society, and just one day we looked up and thought, “When did I grow up?”

If that’s the case for you or a millennial you know, take heart in knowing you are not alone.

The Lord does not give us any task that is too large to accomplish if we lift our eyes to Him and depend on Him for our strength, no matter how not fun it is.