Are you at some chronological point between
25 and 35, at a financial place we like to call ‘upper middle class’, and in a
state of dissatisfaction?
I know I am- most of the time- dissatisfied
that is; the age and economics are pretty much stable! And sometimes by myself,
sometimes in cahoots with similarly oppressed friends, I try to find out the
root cause of this unnecessary, inexplicable distress.
Based on my own judgment of my life thus
far, some thoughts have evolved.Sharing my ideas with you good people in the
hope of a better understanding of this non-dilemma!
I am including pretty much everyone between
25 and 35 in this group. Given that the gaps between generations keep getting
deeper and closer together, I am not sure how right this is. But based on
purely subjective experience, I am going to continue with the same demographic
sample.
Most of us in our late twenties are either
single children, or one of a pair. As such- we have received more than our fair
share of attention. While a good education was ours by right, most conveniences
too were only an ask away. Not all of us were the best of students, but then
the alternative areas of achievement were many. Some played badminton, some
danced, some swam, some sang- most of us did more than one of these! It was
basically very doable- thanks to a mixture of comparative affluence, perceived
ability, and of course- peer pressure! So what I’m driving at is- we’re quite
an ‘accomplished’ generation. All of us have had a growing up phase liberally
sprinkled with achievements - a district tournament here, a music award there. And
since parents had only one or two children to focus on, the appreciation was
abundant too.
And then we grew up.
Where once we were a ‘superstar’ for every
50/50 in Maths, small appreciations became hard to come by. I guess we assumed
adult life would be an extension of the individuality we had always enjoyed. Each
of us stood out from our peers in some way or another, and it was only natural
to assume that the ‘individual identity’ would continue. However, as adults, we
found ourselves working at something a thousand others do, struggling through
courtship and marriage like everyone does, getting caught in traffic with a
hundred others.
Nobody’s special.
I wonder if that's the reason we're seldom
'mad-happy' in adult life. We have taken our ‘awesomeness’ for granted and
assumed others would see it too. Well, I’m sure each of us is very special in
some way, but not enough to set us apart the way a ‘1st prize in
athletics’ did in school!
Perhaps we miss that.
And we look for it in the minor victories
that life has to offer.
But it’s just not the same, is it?
