Generation Love.

Jennette McCurdy, best known for playing Sam in the hit Nickelodeon TV series, iCarly started her solo music career and released a debut single called ‘Generation Love.’

I’m not the biggest country music fan, which is her style, but this song is absolutely one of the BEST songs I have ever heard. Lyrics wise, it displays such a respect for older generations and such a positive, profound outlook on how the current generation of kids and teenagers should be seen.

I've heard stories about my grandpa
Child of the Great Depression
How growing up broke creates
A deep and dark impression

He sits in a rocker down at the veterans' home
Even when I go to visit
He’s still rocking all alone

What will they say about us?

“When I was a kid…” I roll my eyes the second these words escape my Mom’s mouth. I block out her voice as she tells us what would have happened if she said to her father what I say to mine.  I get annoyed when she explains how much different life was without computers, cell-phones and the internet. I walk away when my Dad starts to describe the day they got their first television.  Teenagers today, [unless it’s just me] just don’t care about how the days were before we existed. We don’t want to hear how much different life was. We don’t want to even imagine what it was like without facebook. We can’t stand the thought of only getting socks and underwear for Christmas. We ignore the stories they tell us and we see our Grandparents and even parents as “old-fashioned.”

We work really hard to not care about the past and how life was for those older than us. But in reality, I think if we took the time to listen and care, we would have a newfound respect for our grandparents, great Grandparents, and even our parents. History was NEVER my favorite class in school. It always bored me to hear about the past and the olden times. But when I listen to my Grandpa tell all his stories about when he was my age, I become fascinated. It’s amazing how much life has changed over the past 50-60 years. When I listen to the things my Mom had compared to what I have, I am in awe. I gain more respect for my elders when I learn how they lived at my age and how content they were with what they had.

We are children of divorce
Victims of dysfunction
We spell check, of course
And GPS the proper junction

We've gotten pretty good at shifting all the blame

I cannot go a day without hearing my Dad complain about my generation. He reminds me every day that I live in a generation that isn’t thankful. A disrespectful generation that thinks they’re always right.  We live in dysfunctional families and broken homes. We can’t hand write anything because we rely on spell check to correct our grammar and miss-spelled words. We don’t know how to read maps or ask for directions because our GPS does that for us. We are never to blame for anything because it’s always someone else’s fault.

It hurts me so much to hear people talk about our generation in the way that this song so accurately describes. But if I put aside my ego and think about it: It’s true. I’ll be the first to admit that spell check is my best friend. I am using some form of electronics 24/7 and I always find someone else to blame for my problems.

They call us generation lost
Or generation greed
Or they connect the generation
To a plasma screen

Or a generation why
Enough is not enough
Or maybe they'll call us
Generation love

The current generation is looked upon as being selfish, greedy, and material-focused. I get so upset when I hear people talk about MY generation like this, but I ignore the truth that lies behind it. We interact through texting and facebook chat. We’ve lost the meaning of face-to-face communication. We spend our lives buying the newest thing that comes out. We’re never satisfied with what we have. Only months after the iPad was created, the iPad 2 was already on the shelves. We spend so much time focused on the things we want and how to get them that we lose the real meaning of life.

And when they open up our time capsule
A hundred years from now
Maybe they'll look inside
And see we figured out

How to live with less
And give ourselves away

Just maybe they'll call us
Generation love

I want to be part of a generation that changes the world. I want to show unconditional love to every single person on this earth and change this terrible image that we have created for ourselves.  I want to take the time to listen to my parents’ stories about when they were my age. I want to listen to my Grandpa explain how things were in his days. 

I want to be a part of a generation that shows undeniable respect for the generations before us, the generations that built our foundation.  I want to learn to live with less and be able to say that I lived for love and love alone.

I can honestly say that in 100 years, I want someone to look back on my generation and be proud. I don’t want them to see greed or dissatisfaction with what we had. I want them to see love.  Not only to change the mindset of so many people, but also to make our parents, and Grandparents, and great-great grandparents proud.

I want to be a part of the generation that realized that love was more important than all of the other things we focused on… and learned how to change it.

The richest man on earth and the man on the street that has nothing but the bag on his shoulder, both have one thing in common, and that is love. No matter what we have or who we are, we are always able to show love. We are always able to give some of ourselves away to help someone else.

We have the ability and the time to make this generation known as Generation Love. Personally, I will not settle for anything less. And I can start with just me.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9