I’ve been pondering two messages my generation heard constantly growing up. “You can do anything you want to.” And self-esteem. But I think as we grew up those two messages twisted into something very different than the adults around us intended. Many from my generation, though they may not voice this, believe that if we’re not doing the best thing we are (or at least think we are) capable of, that somehow we’ve fallen short. That we’re not living great lives. You can hear it in the tone of voice when someone tells you what they do for a living. Since most of us didn’t end up being ballerinas or athletes or artists or firemen or the president of the United States, we feel like we’ve settled. Because our esteem, our worth, is in our self, when we haven’t lived up to the dreams and expectations of our youth, we don’t have a self we think is worthy.
I think that’s the natural result of those two messages, especially when used together. What do you think? And is this something you see in my generation, or am I making it up out of my head? Leave me a comment.
I agree - one of my college degrees was in something I was "naturally" good at. I definitely felt pressure, like it would be a waste for me to not get a degree in it. Like I would be irresponsible to not use that ability.
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