A generation of change and wellness

I think one of the greatest gifts my parents have given me is their mistakes, so to speak. They aren't even mistakes, but rather experiences interpreted from the eyes of their greatest critic outside themselves...Me! I think because of the progress my parents made in dealing with their parents dysfunction, a generation escaping the depression and racism, I am able to understand my own the idea of awareness, balance, and wellness.

I have grown to believe that my parents look outside themselves for answers versus trusting their own insight. I am capable of critically thinking about my lifestyle for the first time in a few generations. I have the liberty to do what I am passionate about versus having to do what society will allow me to do. I am educated enough to understand how to make healthy lifestyle decisions. I am informed enough to discern propaganda and marketing that does not fit my values and beliefs. I am at liberty to question authority, participate in systems, and invent my own. Because my parents had the courage to survive, scrape, and crawl through their generational dysfunction I have the freedom to be critical, thankful, empowered, impactful and loving.

I am proud of my parent's choices, healthy and unhealthy, because both have helped me make choices today. I belong to a generation that is realizing that convenience served its purpose but is not always the best choice. I see this in the organic trending, dietary innovation, environmental awareness, and the emphasis on sustainability. I recognize that my parents taught me to belong in my communities and this belonging has resulted in my taking ownership of how and which to belong to. The corporate model has grown too large and I am part of a generation that will balance the globalization of economies back into a balanced ecosystem of shared communities, sustainable trends, applied research, and reasonable comfort. I see the change from pursuing convenience at the expense of values to the adjustment of values with the assessment and examination of convenience. I see progress! Yes the cynic is smiling, but not ignoring suffering.