A New Generation: Thinking Required

Standards.

I’ve lived my entire life with them — higher than most, always changing, and ever present as a compass to the progress in my life. Today’s society reject standards. In lieu of standards (less people feel less than perfect), society has given birth to a love affair of gray.

It’s not my color.

The gray area can be an intoxicating place — a period of growth and innovation. More frequently, you see incremental changes in lieu of real transformation. The problem is the world needs a huge shift.

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Major shifts happen when passivity detonates.

The stakes are higher, and the state of the world is impossible to ignore. The world is a wonderful, beautiful and frightening place. If you’ve been watching the news — anywhere in the world, you are keenly aware that though we’ve come a long way…we still have much farther to go. To sum it up — injustice is happening everywhere, people are angry, and all this unrest has revealed a new truth to the masses.

Thinking. It’s the new oil.

It’s the most valued commodity in our world. Given the present landscape, most realize the very things we cherish in this life are all at risk if we do not become a society that thinks. If you were ambivalent before, you’ve received clarity. Apathy is the enemy.

Everyone is required to think.

It’s no longer optional. There have been far too many moments of savage violence, glaring racism, and infringed civil liberties for anyone to believe that “coasting” and leaving the fate of our world to a select few is the answer.

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We’ve seen children murdered at the hands of those who are sworn to protect them; normal. Gun violence that taking precious lives away too soon; normal. Stereotypes presented as fact; normal. Materialism over edification; normal. What we now define as “normal” is petrifying.

Change happens now. How?

Here are a few pointers for activating your cerebellum.

Don’t Believe Everything You’re Told – Play devil’s advocate. Is there a perspective missing from the analysis? As a general rule — if everyone believes it, proceed with caution. Vet first, then decide.

Audit Your Beliefs – What do you believe? Why? Are your reasons based in sound judgement or do you accept the beliefs because of what you were told? Anything you believe, you should do so with conviction. Are you holding onto ideals that are no longer relevant?

Expose Yourself to Different Kinds of People – Do you ever wonder why looking at the world through a child’s eye can give adults so much revelation? It’s because they’re constantly being exposed to something new; when you are constantly confronted with new concepts and ideas you’re focused to question what you know.

Let Instant Gratification Go – We’re the microwave generation — remember good things come to those who wait. Thoughts are like plants, they need time to develop. A fleeting idea can turn into a thought of substance once it undergoes clarity and questioning. Allow yourself time to go through the process.

It’s a Lifestyle…Not An Event – Thinking is a lifestyle. It holds you accountable for your actions and the state of our world. It obliterates the group mentality that makes “good enough” okay, and it is our only hope for a better tomorrow.

Do you care enough to think?

Jennifer Dowe

Jennifer is a Do Better-Change Maker dedicated to empowering women to live a lifestyle of constant growth and personal development. Fixing is her superpower, which she yields as a writer and transformational coach. Her happy place is filled with fix-the-world conversations, Smartfood popcorn, and Talenti Gelato; concisely presented at JenniferDowe.com.