Becoming the Next Greatest Generation

We call upon those who have lived on this earth

Our ancestors, and our friends, who dreamed the best for future generations

And upon whose lives our lives are built

And with thanksgiving, we call upon them to

Teach us and show us the way

Every Tuesday morning our Great Lakes Green Initiative group begins our meeting with a Chinook Blessing, taken from the book Earth Prayers. In the passage above, we acknowledge our debt to those who have gone before us. The baby boomers were raised by a generation who eventually became known as 'The Greatest Generation', cited for their courage during such difficult times as the Great Depression and World War II. I am a baby boomer, and although we have had our sets of challenges, I wonder about the legacy we are leaving our children.

We have, many of us, achieved material success and have accomplished much in the workplace. We are richer and more educated than any generation in the history of the United States. The world our children will inherit, however, is a great source of concern, with a growing divide between the rich and the poor, burgeoning population growth, increasing scarcity of natural resources, and a world seemingly connected but sadly lacking in mutual understanding. Now, as many of us are retiring, is an opportunity to use our acquired knowledge, skills and wisdom to hand down to our children a better world than the one they are currently living in. The way I see it, we have a choice: We can pursue the traditional retirement plan, move to gated communities and play golf, or perhaps we can give some thought to what we might contribute, given the extraordinary richness of our backgrounds.

So I am calling out to all of you boomers to consider what you want do with the final third of your life. We have had unprecedented freedom in choosing our paths so far, and there is no reason we cannot do the same now. As I said in a previous post, we are all unique, talented individuals, and if we miss this opportunity, the world - our children's world - will be all the poorer for it.

I'm thinking now about what the history books will say about my generation. What great contribution did we make? How did we change the course of history for the better? How did we help those in need? How did we help heal the earth? Will our children be proud to have been raised by such a courageous, committed group of people? Right now I'm not sure about the answers to these questions, but we still have the opportunity to write ourselves a legacy.

There are a million and one ways to make a difference, and I can guess most of you are already contributing in your own unique way. If you are not sure how your skills can be best used in our community, however, I'll suggest one simple thing to consider today: Call 2-1-1, United Way's community help line, and talk with someone about volunteering in an area of interest to you. I can attest to the fact that volunteering with this organization can make a difference in your life. Perhaps we will, finally, be remembered as "..ancestors…who dreamed the best for future generations."