These past few weeks, I’ve read and seen various incarnations of a concept that is best summed up in an article I read in early September from the Huffington Post. The article’s subject – Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy – mainly focuses on our generation’s unhappiness in the workplace, and is delved into throughout the proceeding paragraphs, formulas, and diagrams. Ultimately, it concludes that my generation is unhappy (referred to as GYPSYs, or Gen Y Protagonists & Special Yuppies) because we’ve been raised to believe that we are spectacularly special by our Baby Boomer parents. Problems arise when we get out into the “real world”, entering it with “a sense of optimism and unbounded possibility” as a result of our childhoods. One might ask: isn’t an optimistic attitude a good thing in the world? Well, in this case, that optimism supposedly sets us GYPSYs up for colossal disappointment. Because, when our new jobs end up being less fulfilling than we expected, or we end up not snagging the title of “standout co-worker” in the office (namely, we end up being much less “special” than we were led to believe as children), we become unhappy with the reality of our lives falling much shorter than our expectations. To make it worse, that unhappiness can be compounded with the comparisons our generation tends to make between ourselves and acquaintances’ fabricated lives on social media.

Though the author hits upon multiple other points, the unhappiness-in-the-job-market angle stood out the most to me. Now, at first I was slight angry; I mean, what kind of article was this to tell me that I wasn’t special?

“I certainly am one of the few that are actually special,” I grumbled to myself while reading the article. I instantly wanted to write down all the indignant thoughts flowing through my head. But then I decided to take a step back, and spend some moments pointedly thinking on what the article was professing. After objectively looking at the article’s points, I had to say that I did agree with some of them – truthfully, it can be detrimental to compare one’s activities to those seen on social media, because comparisons lead to discontent; and I did agree with the admonition near the end of the article that our generation should never lose our ambition in our life’s pursuits.

But the view that I was, and still am, staunchly against, was the second point, which said that we need to “stop thinking we’re special.” I get where the author is coming from with this view, because no one likes a person with entitled arrogance who can’t take constructive criticism, and you can become more sought after in the workplace with hard work (it does pay off!), but it still rubs me the wrong way. I do think that each child is special to their parents (for the most part); now in the world, among the rest of society? That’s debatable. There will always be only a few people who will ever reach Einstein or Jackie-O status. But that doesn’t mean that each person in our generation should immediately disregard any thoughts that they are truly special people.

Why did this specific point impact me the most? Because I think it’s a lie. And not the kind of lie that is so obviously wrong that everyone can see through it. This is the worst kind of lie, the kind that is so subtle that as each, non-discerning person hears it, they start to see false truth from the lie reflected in their own lives. But the real truth is that it’s deceitful. It’s as if this one “you’re not really special” phrase is meant to pull a shade over the eyes of my generation, and we’re too obsessed with being “self-actualised” at our young ages that we can’t see through the dishonesty of it. Many will probably say, “But…the article’s right. How many Einsteins or Marie Curies or Nelson Mandelas or Audrey Hepburns can there really be? Those people were special; everyone else is truly average.”

And to that I say: It’s still a lie.

I believe that our generation has the potential to change the world in unspeakable ways, and that’s not a naive thought. We are smarter, more daring, and more special than any generation yet. But here’s the catch – we aren’t special…on our own. We can do so much more than anyone can imagine with the help of the One who specially makes each and every person on Earth in His unique image – Jesus. As I thought about it, I realised that I am extraordinarily special, but not because the world says I am, or because I’m content with where my reality is in comparison to my expectations. No, I am “wonderfully complex” because Jesus says I am (see Psalm 139, NLT), and through Him I can accomplish all the things that only a “special” person could accomplish according to the world’s standards. And I think that this not-special concept has been on the rise recently to halt the greatness that is sure to arise from our generation if they took a step back to accept their “special” status.

I’m sure that the powers that be are terrified of the sheer awesomeness that our generation can accomplish through Jesus’ strength. But if more and more people believe the “you’re not really special” lie each day, none of this greatness will ever have the opportunity to occur. So what can I do? I can start with myself – I want to tell the world that I am special and why that is true! Then hopefully my life will go on to be an appropriate example to my family and friends of what true specialness means.