Marriage Moats-Generation Y

Published: Sat, 10/20/12

Marriage Moats

Caring for Marriage

I read a brief yet pithy article about Generation Y. The prevalence of the simple phrase "follow your passion" skyrocketed during the years they were in school. The author suggests that this created an expectation that passion is launched from the first day of work, rather than built over time. Such a belief can make for low tolerance for less than vibrant work satisfaction.

Generation Y has been called Generation Me, and Generation Why Bother? While their parents and grandparents may have sharp tongued opinions about their lame work ethic and approach to relationships, it can at least lessen the divide to understand where the trends began.

This is new information for me. I look at marriage as a long term investment, one that pays off after years and decades of gradual progress. I am not easily disillusioned by struggle. But I was not fed a diet of "You deserve a break today," or "Raising Your Child's Self Esteem."

The author says that "The early stages of a fantastic career might not feel fantastic at all, a reality that clashes with the fantasy world implied by the advice to "follow your passion." I can easily substitute the word marriage for career. It had not occurred to me that couples in this generation were expecting to skip over the hard part. Neither am I sure that mentioning it a few times, even with an exclamation point, will neutralize a childhood pillowed by false promises.

If I believed that the trajectory of marriage depends on me and my generation, I would be worried. But I see myself as part of an intricate and divinely orchestrated solution, that will bless this wave of husbands and wives in ways I may one day recognize as beautiful.

Photo by Andy Sullivan

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