Things my parents don’t understand

Written by a 32-year old

An exciting part of growing up is being able to see the world through your own lens instead of your parents’.

As a child, I was always under the impression that my parents had answers to all of my questions and that we lived our lives just the way we should. Like we were ticking all the boxes from a rulebook on being human. Our way was the only correct way, and my parents’ decisions were all the right ones.

And then, eight years ago, I moved to Berlin, started living on my own, and realized that more often in life than not, the challenges we face can be answered in many different ways.

Photo by Suzi Kim on Unsplash

1. Taking risks

It’s my impression that my parents’ generation (people born in the 50s and 60s) are much more risk-averse. They stayed in the same jobs for years and didn’t move countries in the same percentage we now do. They didn’t like to rock the boat and were used to the concept of slow (but steady) progression at work. It paid off being loyal, so people did precisely that. However, times have changed.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was offered a job in an area that wasn’t too familiar or aligned with my previous experience, but it came with a substantial raise. The team was smaller, most of them were based on another continent…