Letters to Myself: Entry Fifty-Seven
Prompt: What would you want the next generation to learn from your life?
A reflection on the next generation and what they should learn to do right now moving forward. Focusing on the technology world and how, why, it is necessary to move away from that to live a meaningful life.
Frankly, there are quite a few things I would like to let the next generation in on that my generation seemed to go away from. Whether there is economic strains that are bringing all of us down to the technology advancements to seem to be destroying us by each passing day. We know there is TikTok and YouTube, things that exist that are free apps that give you the dopamine hit you are needing; where then in the next 5 minutes you are going to need the next dopamine hit from that constant scroll; the doomscrolling is real, disheartening and depressing. These are things that I was consumed by, but I had to break away from that because it was causing too much pain for me.
I am not saying to not do these things; after all, we all have the free will to do whatever we want, but the point being here is that these things are so easily gaining your attention that the more you see, the more you come across on these platforms, it will change the way you think and believe things that are not actually real. That is the problem with seeing things over a digital landscape: it can lead to more and more anxiety to go out to the public and endure the challenges that those platforms are not teaching you to endure. One has to place themselves out into the world to gain that knowledge and experience to keep going through the hard times.
And truly, the big thing that I would stress to the next generation is to make sure you are reading and staying alert for the problems and inevitable hatred that will come. People are stressful, money and the economy is stressful, people are believing all kinds of hateful manners to display to all of us because they are getting it through their propagated platforms that they only want to believe in. Diverse thinking and pursuing knowledge is the most important thing we should be wanting to do; hence, there is a reason that the Bible points to this. We should be pursuing more knowledge to make us better and challenge our viewpoints; not to only believe in what you want to believe in. So I say to that is to challenge yourself and views; place yourself in situations with people you might not like.
I write quite a bit about stoicism and it gets a bad rap from the public because it is not being seen in the light that it should be; hence another reason that your devices are brainwashing you. Our phones and platforms that we are all on, can sway topics and things that you believe in that you don’t want to hear. Guess what? You should be hearing it to call it out as something that is false. You have to stand up for the thing you believe in and show the truth. And remember when you lead this courageous foundation, you give yourself a chance to grow and figure out the hardships that will come; this is happening whether you like it or not. The hard times of death and hardship are going to come.
And yet our next generation knows this, but truly don’t want to do anything about it. And I say to that, stand up and be the leader for your generation because that is what is needed here. We can’t give up for the sake of the power advancement of technology and social platforms. It would be naive to not think optimistically; considering the human race has endured more crap than we have even scratched the surface with in today’s age. Life is meant to be hard, and you will see that on your instagram feed because people with smart and intelligent brains, who have been writing books for years, who have read the greats more thoroughly than ourselves, these people know and are trying to share the wisdom that the little man, like myself, can’t really offer other than tell you that the information is there.
I want the next generation to understand this and be sure to endure their challenges. I want the challenge to them to be to stay friendly with their friends and don’t let the isolated brains become more isolated, even though it is already happening before our eyes. I have been more observant out in public and people-watching from afar, and to me, the next generation is showing youthful energy, and that gets me excited for another voice in the room that could give more than ourselves. But then I have seen the other side of things.
Whether that be a teenager on their phone, on the job, and not paying attention to customers coming into their business wanting to get a coffee; whether it be a group of younger adults trying to have a good time out in public, and they are not aware of the family that is just trying to have a nice dinner out and they become obnoxious for the family, ruining the night for them; whether it be out driving around when I have seen not just teenagers, but also full fledged adults, driving around with their phone in their hand, swerving around like a drunk person because, oh that’s right, phones are an addiction just as bad as drugs are.
See things as tools and not a way of life if the younger generation is reading this. You have to otherwise you will set yourself up for failure as my generation kind of did. We were on the tail end of the technology boom about 10 years ago, and to be honest, it has ruined so much, but it has helped too, that is why it can be hard to talk about. It gives so much to the point where we are wondering why we do things? Why would we try when the internet and AI machines can just give us everything we need and want and then some. But then what? Do we feel happy about that? Do we feel content and happy not using our brainpower to figure out certain things? To be curious and thoughtful, figuring out how to think more creatively.
It is hard because I am sitting here and writing on a computer that I purchased, but my writing is my writing, and I am someone who was using AI excessively to help me write before. And frankly, I sparsely still use it to get some generation of ideas, but that is simply because I am using it as a tool to spark my imagination. To spark my creativity because that will be it. I am not letting it write it for me, I am not letting it tell me whats right and what’s wrong with it, I am simply gathering information and trying to filter through it myself, to then figuring out how I can write it into my writeups and how I can convey the message that is from my perspective.
The younger generation has many hoops to jump through and figure out, as we all do. But pushing yourself to see the challenges, like breaking away from the phone, seeking friends in real life and not this digital landscape where it is easy to meet over zoom or whatever the case might be; FaceTiming is powerful as well but it is not the same as actually being there in person. And when you get in person with another human being, make it count! Show them attention, show your listening skills, show your willingness to learn to whatever they are about to tell you, show them that you could call them out on their wrongness and show them that you can have a respectful conversation on how to handle it. Be willing to change and challenge your minds; don’t allow for others to dictate how you are running your life. Get off the phone, do things beside the cheap and easy route; seek the pain and suffering to see the realization that this life is hard, but can be very rewarding when one is willing to try and give up parts of yourself that you didn’t think you could give up.
The answer is clear as day: you can do it, you can let go. You can see past the things that are causing you depression. Put down the phone, show people attention, compassion and challenge yourself to seek out those endeavors. Be willing to be humble and not let the outside voices generate a feeling of hatred inside of you. Because that is the most powerful thing you can do. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Get off the phone, get off the screens, especially your TV shows, stop asking AI for everything, it can’t give you a connection with another person, which might be the most significant thing we can do as a human. Instead, read books, meet up with friends, take a walk, do yard work, hear someone’s opinion and brush it off because you don’t have to indulge in their traps. You have the power to do so; change your mindset and be better for yourself and for those around you always. Compassion and challenges, gracious and humility, these are things that the next generation should be looking at with a fine comb; use it to your advantage to make a better world.
This post is part of my "Letters to Myself" series — a weekly free-write blog where I explore personal growth, curiosity, and healing through simple prompts. Sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, but always real. Thank you for being here.
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Photo by Kyle Gare
