The ‘Bridge’ Generation
Those of us between the ages of 35-55 have experienced probably the most profound change that any generation has ever had to face in history.
We may not have faced the wars and the carnage on the scale that the last two generations did, but we were born into an era that faced the possible wholesale extermination of the human race as a result of superpower competition, we have witnessed ‘the rise of the (information) machines’, we are now looking to the end of oil energy and the possible accelerated destruction of the planet.
We have faced social change on a scale unimaginable until 40 years ago. Email and the internet has become a part of our lives and yet, microcomputers were just a pipe-dream when we were students. Now our children have them in their bedrooms and carry out their homework by means of the ‘Net’. Communication is global and immediate - hand-written letters a thing of the past.
But we have adapted. We have not become, as my mentor Dr. Denis Waitley puts it: ‘road kill on the information super highway‘. We have succeeded and are taking our places at the head of businesses, organisations and corporations.
But this generation has also seen the fall of the pillars of society - the church, politics, business - and now seeks a new vision that we can hand to our children. As no other generation has been in this place before - we are looking increasingly within our own selves to find a direction and discovering the amazing power within us. We are seeking a purpose and meaning to what we do. We want a vocation - just doing a job isn’t enough anymore - we want passion too.
We are wearing the suits and working the system - but we are rebelling at how things have been. We are the “bridge generation” between the old world and the new and are becoming the heralds of change of a New Age and a new time. We look like them, we act like them but we don’t think the way previous generations have.
It is from our dreams, ambitions and values that the future of this world will be written. Let us make the time to value and explore our true selves so that we can set a light to our childrens’ paths. As we continue to live longer - we shall be walking more of it with them.