Every night, like any other Millennial, I have a ritual. You know it, you do it. The regular, get some water, brush your teeth, get a book, get comfortable in the bed, keep the book on the side and scroll through Instagram for next 2 hours and then complain about social media the next morning while running late for work, like any other millennial. If you don’t do it, okay boomer.

So while religiously doing the ritual, I stumbled upon a friend’s insta story asking a very important question: what did you learn in 2019?

I tried to type, delete, re-type, delete, and finally wrote this: I tried to write but don’t know what exactly to write. So, this. To which he replied, that means you did not learn anything. This sent me down spiraling, did I not learn anything this year? Or did I learn a lot but fucked up remembering it?

But to be very honest it got me thinking, what did I learn in 2019, what did I learn in this decade!

There are quite a few things that I learned and learned from. I would really like to share those with you just so you can have something more this year to start with.

Friendships:

The biggest mentor to me for past decade has been my friendships. Don’t get me wrong, parents, you are really the best guidance but this generation, our generation learns more from friends and peers than any other groups. We were asking our parents for the stupid fancy stationary not from some advertisement that we saw but by seeing a rich bully kid flaunting in class. We see more of what is happening – good or bad from our peers than our previous generation.

I got the most amazing set of friends throughout the years. Especially college. I met this bunch of idiots who taught me how important it was to be true to what you are. Everyone has tried to change their personalities when starting new phase of life. Pretending to be what they never were. I tried it too. But once I had completed a few months with these idiots I was an open book to them. They knew everything and they supported every side of me. They taught me that it was okay to fail as long as you did it with a friend. They showed me what love feels like. I remember this one time this one idiot in our group got into the worst accidents of our lives. We were all so scared but at the same time we wanted to kill her for being so stupid. We were all running around that whole semester trying to cover our work and her work as well. They pushed me to do the things I was stupid to care about or too scared to ever do. I’m so glad I did do it.

I did learn another thing from friendship, that its not always rosy and unconditional. During my training days I met this toxic group who I thought were one of the finest people. They were just a bit more self-centered than I realized. I learnt for the first time in my life that everybody is selfish and it’s just the intensity that varies. I was too, I was asking them to care for me. Learned that a hard way but that lesson was strong, helps me keep happy even when alone!

Time:

I am not the luckiest guy I know. I have tried really hard for everything and have not got anything in the first go. Sometimes I would even give up after trying for too long. I’m not going to bore you with many examples but just one. I tried really hard to get into a college of my dreams for bachelors but failed, for masters but failed, tried to go out of country for studies failed, getting a job that paid sufficient, guess what – failed! but I failed when my friends got it. I succeeded a month, a year later. I got a better college a month later. I haven’t gone for masters yet so hoping for the best, I flew out of country for job and am getting paid for it, two years after everyone around me did. Its just that time is something that you have no control over, use it as much as you can but don’t give a deadline to the results. You might be late in others’ timeline, but maybe you are right where you are meant to be in yours.

Extra curricular:

Hi Indian parents, before you start hating my blog let me tell you that I can’t stress enough how important this has been in my life for my growth. I’m 24 and to tell you the truth, skills that I use today, most of them I have learnt outside my classroom. I’m grateful for my skillset I write in my college profile, but what interests my recruiters is when I tell them that I have achieved some specific level in Toastmasters International, or that I have been part of some sport for a really long time. Also, it’s not just about the people that read your profile, its about you and what you would do when you actually get on the field. I put my communication skills, team building skills and leadership skills in use every day in my office but none of that was taught to me in school. I learnt how to work with people with sports and volunteering I did with my college. There are tiny little things that you learn everyday if you go out – out of the school books, classrooms and that same routine of so-called learning and education. It is important but give the same importance to other things. Find an interest, a hobby that teaches you while you enjoy and relax.

Parents:

Last but not the least. The generation that gave us the millennials, is the generation that is teaching us to keep family values while learning from us how to use the Facebook. Mom please stop posting my childhood pics on my timeline. This generation is that thin thread keeping us grounded. Let’s face it, our generation is way in over our head that we know so much more than our parents, we are smarter, we are more easy going. While it is true, understand that we are smarter because of the choices our parents made. We are easy going because they chose to let you go to that night party, get bullied and learn from your own mistake.

My mom and dad have struggled through years. To keep family together, to give us a high standard of living and to keep me happy! I can’t thank them enough. They have taught me that its very important to never disrespect anyone but they also told me that respect only those who deserve it. They have taught me what love looks like, real pure and raw love – the one that is very hard to find with the generation of vegan chicken nuggets and soy milk latte. They also taught me that sometimes holding onto the things will only end up hurting you, it’s harder but smarter to let go.

So to the generation that went from Mario to PubG, and parle G to Milano, To the generation that pays more for distressed denims than grocery for month, to generation that finally thinks glasses are cool, to generation that protests everything, to generation that knows what’s to come and what’s to be done, but is still not active at it, let me tell you this:

We are amazing and we learnt a lot in last decade- the one that was for us to grow, but now it’s time to shine.

Keep your friends closer, your parents too. Let the time heal you and give you everything you want and worked hard for. Enjoy small things in life and take that step you were always so scared of.

Because these are your true mentors, they will teach you and push you till you too are the Boomers!