Why don’t new generations seem to appreciate what they have?

We only feel pampered when we are happy and fulfilled!

I am a pampered man.

Pampered to live in one of the freest and wealthiest countries on the planet.

Pampered to be and keep me healthy.

Pampered to have had parents who gave me and showed love.

Blessed to have had an education.

Pampered to have had the lessons that I have had in life.

Blessed to have known love.

Pampered to have had the right to choose who I am today.

Pampered to have known difficult times; what shaped the person I am today.

Pampered to be able to think and act.

Glad to work on my own.

Lucky to have a home.

Glad to have a car.

Pampered to live in harmony with the woman I love.

Pampered to have known the unconditional love of my dog.

Pampered to do the job I have chosen.

Glad to be warm.

Glad to be able to travel.

Pampered to learn and study for free, therefore, to continue to evolve.

Pampered to sleep well at night.

Glad to have known friendship.

Pampered to be happy.

Pampered to be able to be treated quickly when sick.

Pampered to be pampered by life.

Listening to Will Smith’s biography lately, I began to compare myself, and she was not surprised to find that I, too, am privileged.

Besides Will’s immense talent and, of course, fortune, which makes the most significant difference, I’m immensely grateful for what I’ve accomplished so far in my life and what this life has given me.

We are privileged, and sometimes we tend to forget it. It is normality for us, born in a good corner of this planet.

We too often forget how lucky we are to live here in Canada.

In my opinion, we live, by far, in one, if not the best country in the world.

Like Will Smith, we have all had pitfalls, more or less severe and challenging to overcome along our journey, and it is our ability to face them and emerge from them that makes all the difference between a successful life or failure.

I have been working in recruiting labour and skilled trades for almost 30 years now. Like many, I notice that it has become increasingly difficult.

The generations from the 1990s and 2000s, who did not know life before the Internet and all the facilities it gave us, do not have the same values ​​as previous generations.

They live in a world of ease. Even more, no need to go out to get everything. A cell phone, and you’re done.

These permanently “connected” generations, for the most part, only live according to their status on social networks. They totally divert their education. Many believe that it is easy to earn a good living without making too much effort.

We’re at a kind of crossroads right now. People from generations before 1990 have great difficulty understanding what motivates new generations.

We have the impression that they don’t care about anything, that they only have interests for their disproportionate egos. That they have no values; in any case, work is not part of it, if they have any.

They are indeed the results of our entertainment society. That is largely what they experienced since they were born. Think about it; they see that they have a chance to get rich playing video games! We agree that we are far from the backbreaking hard work that our fathers knew!

The new generation is terrible. I would so love to be part of it! — Oscar Wilde

It is entirely our fault.

Since the 1960s, each generation has tried to make it easier for the next. Sorry to tell you, but in my experience, I think we missed the boat in some ways. Don’t you believe it?

It is difficult for these generations to know where we are going because no one seems to give us a clear idea. There are a lot of seconds but no more real captains at the helm.

We only have to look at what governments are doing concerning the current pandemic. Our future seems to be approached in the same way, without too much confidence and conviction. We are going there more or less, and it must not do us too much harm in the next elections.

These generations are disillusioned. They do not trust our system, and we can understand them.

Unfortunately, this absolute lack of coherence and convictions is what the new generations miss. They did not have any during their education, so how can we expect them to be confident about the future?

Their indifference is seen as a lack of respect for what they have, for what they can do with their future.

Generational shock? No, rather a clash between two completely different worlds; before and after the Internet. That generated a real existential struggle for all.

We need to take the time to make the younger generations understand that the reality is far from what we see via the web and social networks.

We need to give them hope for their future. NOT ours; we are overwhelmed. It is their time, and we need to guide them to be better humans than we have been.

We have to make them understand how blessed they are to live in such an era despite everything we are going through at the moment.

There are no intergenerational conflicts; there is only intolerance. — Renée Garneau (Quebec writer)

Reading Will Smith’s biography, realizing how pampered I am, simply opened my mind to what I experience daily in my work as a recruiter, with these new generations and their ways of to be and to do, or not to do, things.

Our education systems are outdated. They are overwhelmed. The new generations see it very well, and they learn more easily via the Internet than on school benches. So, where is the motivation for them?

We need to review the system at the secondary level, grades 7 to 12. That is where it hurts the most. That is where we lose the young people.

In my opinion, we will live this generational “clash” again for a minimum of 10 years — time to improve education systems and adapt them to our current reality.

We need to teach them that competition in life is not only against other people but mainly against oneself. Teach them to become better versions of themselves.

We have to make them see that they can shape their future according to their ambitions and vision. We have to show them that they have a place and take it.

However, we must make room for them. We have to settle down and share the wealth with these young generations to create even more.

The solution is and can only be in the combination of the forces of each generation. We must learn to accept it and become tolerant towards each other.

It’s straightforward; young people will feel pampered when they are fully fulfilled and happy in this world that always seems to be going faster and faster and which we old people try to retain to enjoy even more!

What to do with nostalgia when you are pampered by the present? — David Homel