Can Anyone Hear Me? What Millennials are Saying Through Rebellion and Self-Sabotage

Millennials. We tend to job-hop, prefer the immediate gratification of spending over saving, and depend on electronics to communicate. We challenge the rules and push the limits. We’ve taken our bodies through the ringer through dieting, experimented with numerous forms of self-harm, and we’ve been known to sabotage many of our opportunities, like using college for social experience rather than study, or quitting jobs because we just “didn’t like the boss.”

Every generation has its purpose… is it our purpose to rebel and sabotage what others have produced for us? Or, what are we really saying through rebellion and self-sabotage?

Rebellion and self-sabotage are our first expressions of freedom – they represent the cocooning phase of our generation. Through them, we are shedding the old in order to expose the boundless possibilities we envision for the future.

We rebel to push through rules and boundaries that no longer allow the world to expand to its full potential. We sabotage to free ourselves from the systems that are no longer serving the full expression of who we are and what we’re capable of.

Millennials have more passion, resources and education than any other generation to date, and we are using them. We’re not just addressing one issue, we’re using our assets to address media’s influence on young women, creating awareness on social issues, getting clean water to every human in the world, providing equal rights for ALL people, addressing bully-behavior, and empowering people to love their work and their body. We are a generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. We are independence seekers, we are driven by spirituality, and we find strength in diversity.

Do we struggle with eating disorders, partying a bit too much, self-harm and failing to achieve our goals? Hell yes. That’s because many of us aren’t sure how to use the immeasurable power we’ve been given, and we often try to rid ourselves of the responsibility.

We’re learning, growing, and showing signs that there is a method to our madness. We’ve made starting a business in your 20s the new norm and we’re using video cameras and social media to help people be aware and be inspired every single day.

It might look like partying, cell phone addiction and irresponsible spending sometimes, because the truth is, we don’t know what we’re doing and we’re not perfect at it. We are finding our way. An airplane is off course up to 95% of its flight, but it still lands on the right runway.

So what are millennials saying through rebellion and self-sabotage? We’re saying, “trust us” and “trust yourself.” Trust that you’ve raised incredible, powerful and mindful humans with the capacity and the desire to change the world for the better.

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