Let’s Go Baby Boomers!

Have you found yourself frustrated more often than not from being involved in conversations or having dinner with someone, where the other person is texting, tweeting, or posting on FB? Your not even sure if anything you just said was even heard? Well, let’s go baby boomers!

The older I get the more I find myself reflecting on “days gone by”. Life seemed much more simple even just a few years ago. If you take a 20-year look back, one can sense the excitement in the air as technology was quickly on the rise. 30 years ago opened the door for the first website. The internet was just making its entrance 40 years ago when I graduated high school. The bag phone came shortly after that. (Yes, I had one! It weighed about 3 pounds and DIDN’t fit in my purse!)

I was born at the tail end of the Baby Boomers generation. The opportunity to see the best of both worlds has been very vivid. Life in the middle 1960s makes today’s living seem fast and furious. Stress and busyness are common words in most of today’s conversations.

I frequently ask myself the following question: Is it really supposed to be this way?

It’s hard to keep up with all that is going on around us. The American lifestyle puts demands on a household from all directions. Sprinkle in current world events on top of daily living and you get a perfect scenario for mental and even physical stress beyond our limits.

Mental health used to be a thing hidden behind the veil of “the family secrets”. Not so much anymore. There is a great push for better understanding, compassion, empathy, treatment, and cures.

But isn’t there a way to just stay out of the ditch and live a balanced and healthy lifestyle?

My parents worked 60 plus hours a week. Provision and self-worth both came from the work ethic. We met at the table for breakfast , lunch, and dinner. We were taught to respect our elders – whoever they were. Parents, Aunts, Uncles, or neighbors. If they were older than you – you respected them. Looking people in the eye meant honesty and integrity. Life was a team effort and families were units of powerful influence.

I married at 18 years old and had a child at 22. (Living together wasn’t even considered as an option for us 21 years ago ) . We were young and completely immersed in generational baggage as well as our own self-induced behavioral consequences. Neither of us had good parental models for a healthy marriage or guidance to navigate the rough waters of daily life while raising a family.

New Year’s Eve of 2000 found me in a hotel room with my head buried in a pillow waiting for Y2K to take me away. My world as I knew it had fallen apart a week prior. Year after year had passed and my happiness slowly dwindled away until one day I simply walked away from our 17-year marital investment.

It can seem like it sneaks up on you even when it’s taken years to get there. The truth is we all have emotional limits and there doesn’t have to be abuse or dysfunction to cause the overload. It can simply be a matter of how you structure each one of your days. How much you expect of yourself and putting limits on the access others have to your time.

I wish someone had mentored me on personal development. Knowing how you are individually wired is a tremendous asset. Recognizing how to manage our weak and strong traits is a recipe for productivity and emotional wholeness.

Yet, my parents were from the “Greatest Generation”. They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary participants in World War II.  The thought of “personal development “ was not even on the radar! Instead, survival was at the forefront of every moment.

Anyway, although I do allow my thoughts to wander back to the “good ole days, we are in the present time frame and the only control we have in our life is how we react to all situations. The past, the present, and the future.

I was guilty of stuffing my past deep within my soul until it became toxic to my well-being. Divorce put me in my own season of survival and restoration. Much later and well into my second marriage, counseling took me pilfering through the debris of a past that had left deep scars. The only choices were to face it and deal with it or stay emotionally crippled with the same conditioned behaviors for the rest of my life.

Little by little I found some treasures buried in the ashes, brushed them off, packed them up, and headed into the present. I have since learned how to manage my emotions in a much more healthy way and use the past as fuel for the future.

It is probably safe to say that most of us could use a little dusting off. We are constantly victims of our environments. Different seasons of life give us both good and not so good. It’s a healthy practice to stay aware of build-up in our lifeline.

Our culture as Baby Boomers has changed quickly in the past 50 years. However, we must understand the incredible opportunity to be the seam between our generations and use it as a powerful tool for our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.

I believe we are living in one of the most powerful times of influence in history. It is crucial we embrace the changes that are upon us and become a useful blending tool for future generations.

I have heard it said that unity must have diversity or it is simply uniformity. It would be tragic to try to duplicate a past culture instead of enhancing the present. Our common goal should be to unite our strengths and equip the generations that follow so they can succeed in this fast-changing world. We have values that risk getting lost if we don’t step up.

I leave you with this encouragement: Keep yourself mentally maintenanced in these crazy days. Let your past fuel the present and future. Make the decision to help connect the generations. Be that person that invests in another. Take the time to appreciate their era and what molded their character. Be aware of your sphere of influence and look for those windows to weave your knowledge with theirs to help the world go forward long after you are gone.

If they are focused on their phone when you are talking to them, don’t worry, they probably heard every word you said and by all means

Enjoy the Journey -VB

PS: Blogging is a journey. Procrastination is the only thing that may be keeping you from embarking on that journey. Just do it! Right here.

For encouragement on revisiting your past – check out my book page! I appreciate all reviews too!