Millennials: The MeMeMe Generation or the golden builders of tomorrow? July 21, 2013

image by axinia

It’s always been “Damn young people these days” out of the Mouths of Age.

“The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress.”

—Peter the Hermit, 1274 (!)

We all know that, and yet every generation seems to be quite different from the previous ones, hand in hand with the evolution of humanity.

Recently many articles have been written about the so called Millenials (birth rates from the early 80s to the early 2000s)- I have summarized what I found interesting and made my conclusions. 

Jean Twenge, the author of the 2006 book Generation Me, considers Millennials along with younger Gen Xers to be part of what she calls “Generation Me”.^[26] Twenge attributes confidence and tolerance to the Millennials but also a sense of entitlement and narcissism based on personality surveys that showed increasing narcissism among Millennials compared to preceding generations when they were teens and in their twenties.

So what do we know about these new people so far?

1.Millennials are the first generation to have a global identity and not a national identity.

2. Every generation has been the “Me” generation at some point. The only major difference now is that millennials have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to highlight their me-ness.

3. Millenials say: “The olds are calling us narcissistic because we don’t worship children or the corporate workplace, two American religions based on the morality of self sacrifice. We also are extremely well versed in social bullshit and prize self-awareness. We play with that and it looks like narcissism. It’d be more accurate to call us the Theater Generation.”

4. Millenials say: “At any rate, what looks vapid to the outside eyes is really just the self-promotion we HAVE to do in order to get jobs and keep them. What looks like Special Snowflake Syndrome to the outside eyes is really just how we’re trying to stick out in a terrible job market. What looks like laziness and lack of commitment (all those stats about how we are not marrying and not having kids) is the huge economic insecurity we’re all living with.”

5. At a time when our society is in total tilt, the emergence of a paradigm shift centered around joyfulness is a phenomenon that we should be paying serious attention to. This isn’t just a hippie ideology reincarnated in millennial “entitlement.” Joy is an economic force that makes sense. Innovative companies are expanding their definition of profit and are making tangible investments and partnering with groups such as the Kantian Advisors, a consulting firm established by millennial co-founders Alexandra Douwes and Nellie Morris to help integrate purpose in their work because all signs suggest that purpose is the future (source: here)

6. Millennials are sometimes referred to as the Peter Pan Generation, because of the members’ perceived penchant for delaying some rites of passage into adulthood, longer periods than most generations before them. These labels were also a reference to a trend toward members living with their parents for longer periods than previous generations. Many Millennials are delaying the transition from childhood to adulthood as a response to mistakes made by their parents. “In prior generations, you get married and you start a career and you do that immediately. What young people today are seeing is that approach has led to divorces, to people unhappy with their careers … The majority want to get married […] they just want to do it right the first time, the same thing with their careers.

7. Generation MeMeMe has led a trend towards irreligion that has been growing since the 1990s. It also found that a third do not believe in any god and that 41% thought religion causes a lot of evil in the world.

8. Since millenials do not respect authority, they are not outraged by it. That is why they are the first non-riotin teenagers. «MTV has always been a territory free from the parents, -says the president of MTV Stephen Friedman, which now includes parents in almost each of his shows. – One of our studies showed that today’s youth delegate its superego to parents. Even when it comes to the simplest decision – our audience seeks advice from mom and dad. ”

9. Millenials use their communication advantage to knock out the best conditions for themselves to work with traditional institutions. Harry Stiteler, who is recruiting since 15 years into the U.S. Army sincerely admires millenials:
“When I first started watching recruits, it was a generation that had to be constantly told what to do. But a new generation understands everything else before you opened your mouth. They are three or four steps ahead. They come in and say “I will do this, and then I’ll do that, but then I want to do also this and that “.

10. Millenials are persistent and optimistic.  They are  thinkers, rather than dreamers, they are Life hackers. They have no leaders, and that’s why Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street had even less chance for success than any of  previous revolutions. However they can be dangerous to the establishment because they don’t believe in it.

11. Psychologists agree on one thing: millenials are sweet. They are friendly and positive. In the recent decade they changed the emotional content of Internet! Internet has always been  50% positive, 50% negative. But today, the ratio of 90 to 10 in favor of the positive.

By reading all that and corresponding it to my experience with this generation (which i am not part of :)) I came up to two main points:

The Millenials are collective and not interested in power, they are not keen on leaders and politics. That is highly interesting because all previous generations starting from Baby boomers seem to have come to break down the System, to riot, to change the whole world order in a dramatic or even aggressive way. The Millenials seem to be much more peaceful and positive.

After the Warrior-archetype of the Baby Boomers, the Millenials are clearly a Child-Archetype, they are infantile and sweet, seeking the true joy and friendship. They are not such desperate seekers as we have been. Are they born already with the Knowledge of Truth?

Whatever it is, if these are people who will run the world community in 10-20 years then we will most probably live in a happier world!

LOVE
axinia

What about trust? June 16, 2013

image by axinia

Most of us would call trust is one of the basic human values. What’s the point of writing about it when it is anyway clear to everyone. My point here is to share my observations on how people relate to trust and what could be done about it if it is missing.

We all want others to trust us. But do we trust much? In my profession I have to get an idea of a person within one hour and to reach that I had to dig deep, taking straight to the values and desires. By doing so I can sense the level of trust in a person which is -alas! – often not that high. We are afraid of each other, afraid to open up and to trust. Afraid to get hurt and disappointed. I guess each of us had at least one case in life when our trust was misused. And this makes us cautious.

No need! Relax about it, my friends. Here is what my long-term observations on the trust matte show:

1.People who trust others, are more successful in life: they are more loved, more relaxed and successful in establishing long-term relationships which lead to better career chances and of course deeper and more stable friendships and families.

2.People who trust others are happier in life in general because they have less tension and fears of being misused.

One should not be too blue-eyed of course and if there are clear signs of someone’s criminal behavior one should be alert. However are many cases when even in criminal situation when approached with trust and friendliness, the negative situation could be neutralized. I once had a miraculous situation and know how amazing it could be.

Why we are looking for paradise March 19, 2013

 It is very interesting to study the lives of the great in the world. We find that some great people have almost arrived at the fulfillment of their undertakings and just before they had reached the goal they have lost it; and there have been some great people who have attained the ultimate success in whatever they have undertaken. You will always find that the souls of the former kind are the ones who were gifted with great power and yet lacked faith, while the others were gifted with the same power, and that power was supported by faith.

A person may have all the power there is, all the wisdom and inspiration, but if there is one thing lacking, which is faith, he may attain to ninety-nine degrees of success and yet may miss that very one whose loss in the end takes away all that was gained previously. There is a saying in English, ‘all’s well that ends well’, as the Eastern people say in their prayers, ‘make our end good’; for if there be a difficulty just now we do not mind, because there will be success, the real success, in its completion.
It is in this outlook that we can find the secret of the idea of Paradise, the paradise which has been spoken of by the elevated souls of all times, and in all scriptures you will find a reference to paradise is a hope in the hereafter, a hope in the future.

 When someone finds that there is no justice to be found in life, or beauty is lacking, or wisdom is not to be found anywhere, and goodness is rare, then he begins to think that justice must exist somewhere; all beauty, wisdom, goodness must be found somewhere, and that is in paradise. He thinks, ‘It exists somewhere. I shall find it one day; if not in this life, I shall find it in the hereafter; but there is a day when the fulfillment of my hope, my desire, will come.‘ This person lives; and this person lives to see his desire fulfilled. For in reality the lack that one finds in a person, in a thing, in an affair, in a condition, will not always remain. For all will be perfect, all must be perfect; it is a matter of time. And it is towards that perfection that we are all striving, and the whole universe is working towards the same goal. It is in that perfection that the thinkers and the great ones of all times have seen their paradise, because through man it is God who desires. Therefore it is not the desire of man; it is the desire of God, and has its fulfillment.

by Hazrat Ihayat Khan, “the Sufi Message”

The queen archetype November 26, 2012

The queen archetype is one of the most popular in collective consious of mankind regardless the culture and epoche. It is not by chance that little girls all over the world dream of being princesses – it is not a  silly childish wish but a deep longing for some special powerful qualities. And have you ever thought about the sagnificance and meaning of a crown on top of the king/queen’s head?

As we know, the C.G.Jung’s concept of the archetype is derived from the repeated observation that, for instance, the myths and fairy-tales of world literature contain definite motifs which crop up everywhere. We meet these same motifs in the fantasies, dreams, deliria, and delusions of individuals living today.

The four female archetypes of the Faerie, the Wise One, the Lover, and the Queen are found in most cultures and provide insights into female patterns of leadership. As is the case with her male counterpart, the King, the Queen is the most complex and mature of the female archetypes. This is because the image of a Queen who serves as a center for the mature ordering of things includes and transcends the other archetypes of the Feminine. Indeed the most powerful embodiment of this archetype is the Great Goddess—The Great Mother. This cosmic image is the equal to that of an all powerful God, the source of complete cosmic power, but at the same time is more accessible, less menacing. Images that may point to such a Great Mother, a supernatural Queen, are among some of the earliest human depictions of a higher power.

I like the way Shri Mataji addresses that archetype in her lectures, here is what I picked up from her talks on queen qualities /Raja Lakshmi principal. You can check how far this queen archetype is present in you (I guess it works both for females and males).

Is it true that Russians have the strongest will power? August 2, 2012

image by axinia

Again I am  here with the will power topic. Recently I talked to one American friend about handling difficult situations of “mental discussions” – when you keep arguing with someone in your thoughts, and the person has no idea about it. Apparently it is a widely spread phenomenon. When people cannot speak out they prefer to discuss it “within”. This thing can definitely make one mad!

I remember having such an experience only once in my life, some years back – for two moths I could not stop thinking about some conflict situation. Even though I have a long-term mediation experience, this work-related relationship issue was such a torn! I applied all possible yogic techniques, nothing helped. Every free minute when I was not directly busy with something else, I kept giving my arguments to the person I had an issue with. Isn’t it idiotic? At some point I was so fed up with it and really did not know what to do. And then…I decided to apply my WILL POWER : I started stopping this thinking immediately when I noticed it rising up. The next second I would say “stop it now” and indeed, I managed to completely diminish the issue by using my will power only!

When I gave this example to my American friend and ask him why don’t other people use their will power for solving hard problems, he said: “Well you know this is a very Russian thing, Russians have strong intellect and can use it powerfully. The Western people are weaker in that, they would moan and groan about and go to a psychologist/psychotherapists and wait until someone else will bring the relief. I know several Russians who solved their problems like you did but I don’t know any Westerner who would do that”.

Yogis are most desirable candidates for jobs July 25, 2012

Meditation makes you more balanced and joyous. People love to be around happy people, and will understandably enjoy your company. An inner magnetism will start to be expressed, and somehow, you may not know why, but you will find almost everyone eager to work with, or for you. 

Interestingly in the job world you become a desirable candidate for any recruiter because of your charisma and dynamism. The reason behind this is that regular meditations increase your energy level and you yourself will start emitting vibrations, or essentially everything positive. People can feel it and they actually love it, even if they do not understand the source of it.

This is what I’ve learned from several recent recruitment experiences: among many candidates people who meditated were selected as the best, although the recruiter or client knew nothing about the yogic background of a job candidate.

People practicing yoga and meditation are more luckily to be selected for a job.

So the new career rule says: MEDITATE and you will be successful!

🙂 axinia

What and whom you cannot forgive April 1, 2012

Forgiveness has become a popular topic. Sooner or later you come across this word on the way of personal development.  Many psychologists, healers, spiritual leaders and practitioners will tell you: If your head is full and you are suffering from unclear emotional heaviness you just have to forgive. 

In the classical sense one can/should forgive if one was badly injured (physically or emotionally, often in cases like betrayal). Luckily not everyone has experienced such heavy pains. But the head is still full and life has no joy…what’s the reason then?

I fount out that Forgiveness has a much wider relevance.

 Basically you need to forgive

• when you keep coming back to a certain situation, keep analyzing or criticising others or your own behaviour

• when you keep arguing in your head with a person you had a serious talk even when days, weeks or months already passed

• when you regret you did not find the right word in a situation and you think !oh, i should have said that…next time I will say so and so”

In fact what happens is that your head gets stuck like a computer when it hangs. It just cannot continue working properly!  – Just think of it every time you catch yourself on perpetual one-thought thinking.

How to attain peace, wealth and power? March 19, 2012

Man wants peace, wealth, power, etc., but God is the origin of all these. 

Then why should there not be the desire for God?

Shri Mataji 

 

Another realization from my motherhood experience March 4, 2012

My sweet daughter is almost one year old now. So far I have been fully enjoying the motherhood experience and learning a lot from that.

I have realized certain things and have posted about some here, here and here. Today, rounding up this year, happy to share one more insight.

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Watching my daughter grow, I can see clearly that despite her taking physically after her father and temperament-wise after her mother, she possesses her own already developed personality. I wonder how people who have children can really belive they come totally “new” into this world?! Nothing doing, more than ever I am convinced now that one soul is getting born again and again, reincarnation is not a mere theory.

One amazing thing about my baby is her conscious vegetarianism.

I should admit I am a convinced non-vegetarian myself. I tried to reject meat many years back but this did much harm to my health so I realized that at least for myself this would not work. And I never regret that, enjoying some chicken or even beef now and then. When I got pregnant, after the second month (normally when the soul is believed to enter the embryo’s body) I suddenly stopped eating meat and fish. I could not swallow a piece!  Well I thought, this is definitely not me 🙂 Thus the embryo grew as a pure vegetarian, being perfectly fit. When the time came for the baby to start taking other food additionally to milk, I was advised to try giving all kinds of food, also chicken and fish. And – imagine! – she rejects completely! Quite a conscious choice, I would say, because otherwise she is a good eater.

Now tell me what is the reason behind this? I cannot see any other except that this soul has come not only with a certain character, but with a set of habits and ideas as well, and probably a even a certain mission.

I am  sure my experience and realization about it is not unique. Please share yours!

thanks 🙂

LOVE, axinia

Today, for one year… February 23, 2012

Today, for one year the most amazing and powerful female incarnation left this Earth.

It may take years, decades or even centuries for the mankind to realize

what kind of miracle has been bestowed upon it by this incredible lady.

Whatever then humans have been searching for, the meaning of life,

the realisation of Self was granted by this majestic Yogi to everyone.

And will be always granted in the future, because her disciples can easily pass it on.

SHRI MATAJI NIRMALA DEVI,

 the most mysterious , the greatest Guru of all times.

The Mother you have been longing for.