My generation (the "Millenials" or "Gen Y" or whatever other arbitrary name has been assigned to us) is collectively known as a bunch of whiny, entitled, lazy, willfully ignorant (my favorite), spoiled brats. You won't get much of an argument from me on this point; too often I fit the description of a Millenial. But if there's something that irks me to no end about the Millenial mindset is the attitude exemplified in John Mayer's
Waiting for the World to Change. I used to really love that song until one day I actually thought about the lyrics. It is so symptomatic of our generation to say something like, "We just feel like we don't have the means / To rise above and beat it / So we keep waiting / Waiting on the world to change." If there was a theme song for Millenials, I'd say that's it. We complain, and then we shrug our shoulders and say there's nothing we can do about it. We're a generation that doesn't effect change so much as wait for someone else to do it for us.
Now it's not as though I'm out there working on a grassroots campaign to change the world, but when it comes to my personal life, I'm not a fan of waiting around. I do not subscribe to the love-happens-when-you-least-expect-it school of thought, I'm more of a when-it-rains-it-pours kind of girl.
And so, I've done all sorts of things since moving to New York to inject change into my life. A lot of it has been motivated by dating. Forcing myself to go out. Forcing myself to go on second dates even when I know they're not leading anywhere. Forcing myself to try match. And then every time that starts feeling empty, I try to fill the void simply by keeping busy with things I enjoy. Signing up for classes. Signing up for sports teams. Signing up for a blog. Signing up for community service projects. Signing up for things that make me feel like I am enriching my life in any sort of way. Signing up for things that keep me from feeling like I am wasting away my weekends and evenings sitting in front of my TV, alone.
But sometimes it all seems like a rather temporary fix. I can keep myself busy all I want, but at the end of the day, I still come home to an empty apartment and I still don't have any real control over certain aspects of my life. It still feels as though I am waiting around. Waiting on the world to change.
