The Generational Gap in Happiness

What brings a smile to your face? What keeps you motivated and engaged on a daily basis? Is happy a state of mind? A superficial state? Do you possess happiness or do you gain happiness? Can happiness be bought?

Is happiness measured by ones ability to vacation, buy clothes, dine expensively, hold extravagant parties, have nicely furnished homes, and obtain a multitude of cars, among many other superficial possessions?

For a long time I had been making decisions based on what would superficially please me, and I made choices based on finding the quickest route to a six figure job. But during the course of my collegiate career I took it upon myself to be exposed to the world of community service and my view of the world quickly changed.

Our generation is one of the first groups of people that have lived who are primarily concerned with being happy. And who can blame us. With so much to be displeased about, and with seeing our parent’s work-a-holic generation producing wealthy, unhappy individuals, we know it is time to find a new way.

This brings me to a conversation I had with my father over the holiday break. As he expressed his concern for my sub par grades this quarter that could ultimately make it more difficult for me to find a job with a salary that makes me “happy,” I tried to convince him how unconcerned I am with the fact that I either succeed or don’t succeed financially in life. He exclaimed to me that I couldn’t live my life choosing to only make choices that make me happy, and that some point in my life, “I would have to do things that won’t make me happy.”

I told him what I did last quarter that resulted in the GPA I received; switching majors to something that made me happier, that allowed me to enjoy school more, volunteering over forty hours at a food pantry, participating in ground breaking standards of excellence forums for Greek communities, and helping to shape the future of hundreds of college students through the participation in community events at Hillel.

I tried to explain for what seemed like the one millionth time that I am not interested in making six figures, rather leading my daily life as happily as possible. If I happen to make a ton of money by doing what makes me happy so be it, but I refuse to live my life with the blind goal of just making money to support my family.

The shift has started. From little things like telecommuting to fitness centers at our place of employment, we are driving the future of the American cooperate world. In the past, technological innovations and an evolving industrial era have been the primary force behind big business’s decisions, and now it is us. Our interest in civic engagement, in protecting the environment, in making sure our kids grow up spending much more time with us than we ever did with our parents – for the first time ever, humans are driving business’s core decisions and those humans are the members of Generation Y. It is now our turn to put our money where our heart is to really make a difference.