Boomers...

I heard a comment from someone in the older generation that everyone my age is complaining that life was supposed to be really great and we're disappointed wondering, "What the hell?"

Well, yes it was and yes we are...Thanks for noticing.

Damn baby boomers....

They were there, when we were young, they were the adults. They talked about how they had lived too freely and made their mistakes but we wouldn't have to. Listening to them, especially to those in the Christian community, we thought we could have it all. We had the advantage of "knowing the Lord" from an early age. We were blessed already, life could be perfect, we could ace it.

I believed them, that's for sure. I had all the advantages, I had the Christian thing down from the start--that was the golden ticket--and adults flat-out told me I could avoid all that pain sin caused them. They were giving us the gouge, the low-down, and they knew what they were talking about.

Hey, what about the pain of NOT sinning, NOT living...any thought given to that?

No, there was no warning on that side of things, no encouraging any scary experimentation or free thinking, we had to guard ourselves from such things proven faulty in the '60s and '70. Boomers were ready to settle down and live right.

We heard the message countless times, at least I did, in church, school and elsewhere: "Live right, obey the rules and not only will you avoid all the pitfalls and heartache we went through, you will get all these blessings." Throw in the capitalist American myth that we could do and become whatever we wanted and...well, of course we're perpetually recovering from disappointment.

I remember an article in Time Magazine saying we were the generation that would surpass all others...our conservative outlook and our opportunities were just that good. Come of age in the '80s and you were bound to achieve and succeed.

So yeah...We--me and my generation--we just might have a thing or two to say about how life is not quite how it was cracked up to be. I don't hear anyone saying it's all bad, we've all done okay, we're all right...

It was supposed to be awesome.

Maybe we shouldn't have believed it, that we could have it all and do it "right," but we did not come up with this notion on our own.

No one wants to say it--it's un-American and it won't win any souls--but the truth is there is no formula for life and no one can do or achieve whatever they want. The sky has limits, the American dream has plenty of limits...

It's funny to hear from the generation behind us, the X-generation of latch-key kids. They never thought it was going to be that great, they have an easier time with acceptance.

And what are we telling kids today? They're the "Z-generation," characterized by how they've never had any filter on their information--Is it really doing them a favor to let them think there is a framework to live by, that the sky is the limit and they can have it all? Don't worry, they know better already...plus they're being raised by a bunch of disappointed cynics.

All of us who thought we could do and have it all, that we would be blessed and it would all just happen for us if we did it right...aren't we a little ridiculous? I know we are. I know I am at least, and sure, it sounds lame in today's world. I take responsibility, I own it.

But hey, Boomers, you guys need to take a little blame too for raising expectations.

Then again, maybe you actually thought we could do it. After the rebellion of the '60s and '70s maybe you actually believed a more conservative, upright, formulaic Christian approach to life would pay off. Maybe you didn't know any better either....

In that case...Sorry to be such a disappointment.