Generation Y-Not?

I've recently taken a plunge into my own venture and boy, the trials and tribulations have turned my life upside down. Much to my surprise though, I'm finding it all to be perfectly worth it. I left a very comfy office job with decent pay and outstanding benefits to take all this on. Primarily because I've been on this kick where I despise anything structured, conforming, corporate or routine. And that is because the bulk of the older generations have this backwards view of the "generation-me" clan that I so happen to be apart of [I know I'm at risk of a hasty generalization here, but work with me]. For awhile I was convinced that they were right; perhaps we are lazy and selfish and don't have what it takes to stick it out in a 9 to 5 job in efforts to climb up the corporate ladder of success. Then, after much contemplation, research, and self reflection, I've discovered that simply isn't so. Perhaps we want more than what our mothers and fathers have previously settled for. Granted the economic struggles were different, and the dreams they've had for themselves were much different. They - wanting the financial stability earned by working for the man, just to possess their piece of the American dream. But today, the American dream is divergent. We have so much knowledge and possibility at our finger tips, and those possibilities likely a direct result of what our mothers and fathers worked so hard for back then. Progression and evolution is inevitable, however, and so it is no surprise that this generation and those after us will partake in revolutionary actions accordingly.

Therefore, no, we are not lazy or selfish or ill-determined; we are standing up for change and living for those very things we believe make life worth living - defining our own American dream. We are the entrepreneurs and artists and renegades that decided we weren't going to sit in an office working for someone else's dream when we have our own. So yeah, maybe we have to sit at a desk while we build up courage and financial backing to make that dream happen, but we don't stay for long because we have our own agenda. It is not that we can't work hard, we just believe in working hard for ourselves. And if following our dream and passion is selfish, then I think we would gladly accept the label. Let's make t-shirts "Selfish for Our Own Success" - #selfishforourownsuccess. 

Life is certainly hard enough, and it has been increasingly difficult to stay afloat while taking on these endeavors, but I'm much happier now than I've ever been working for someone else. And the Y Generation is perhaps the first to realize, not only our potential to make change happen, but applying it with the professional skills we've honed up to this point. Our ambitions and forward thinking has set us all in motion; its ripple effect is only growing stronger.