Gen Y Gives Thanks: Appreciation for family and friends is more than cliche

November 22, 9:45 AMGeneration Y ExaminerSharalyn Hartwell

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Gen Y'ers are grateful for the loving support of family
and friends. It's not cliche, it's real.
(Photo: Photoxpress.com)

When pausing to consider the things for which one is most grateful, most anyone would say their family and friends without hesitation. But, just because it is common doesn’t mean it is merely knee-jerk. Gen Y’ers like Benjamin Wilcox and Ryan Stephens learned this year what a difference the loving support of family and friends can and does make in their lives.

A lesson like that is not cliché.

When he was laid off earlier this year, 25 year-old Wilcox of Detroit relied heavily on his family and friends for support. Now he marvels how he could ever thank them enough.

“I know that it sounds cliche, but I really am most thankful for the support of my friends and family. Their support has been overwhelming. For the past nine months, I have been able to live with a couple of friends for reduced rent or no rent at all. Other friends have been more than helpful, doing things like paying for countless meals and drinks while listening to me complain about my situation. Others still have helped me get my blog to what it is today. I am certain I would not have been able to make it through these difficult circumstances without the love and support of my family and friends. There is no way I will ever thank everyone enough for their help, but I am doing everything I can to show my appreciation.’

Stephens’ lesson in the non-cliche nature of appreciating family and friends happened because of a move across the country for a job. Eleven months ago, the 25 year-old sports media consultant moved from his hometown of Huntsville, Texas, to Charlotte, N.C. He says the move made him realize just how much he needed his friends and family in his life.

“Despite the cliche, I'm most grateful for my family and friends (particularly the seven guys who are like my brothers from high school, the guys I went to battle with for four years on the baseball diamond and our grad school clan that took shots together, before noon, when we finished brutal tests.) Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. The past 11 months out here (in Huntsville) have taught me this mama's boy can handle anything on his own. Without being surrounded by the people who love and care about me the most, I've learned to rely on myself and dictate my own life.”

Although pleased, and grateful, for his lessons in self-reliance, Stephens learned something he considers even more valuable--just how much his family and friends mean to him.

“Most of all, I've realized that no title next to my name on a business card is worth being away from the people that helped shape me into the person I've become.”

Based upon this lesson, Stephen negotiated with his employer to work his current job remotely, back home in Texas.

Read more about the non-cliche nature of Wilcox and Stephens' lives on their blogs--Benjamin T. Wilcox, and Ryan Stephens Marketing. 

For more on “Gen Y Gives Thanks”: Click here to read how the series got started and here to read all “Gen Y Gives Thanks” related articles. Join the #GenYGivesThanks conversation on Twitter and check out what the participants in the series are tweeting about with my GenYGivesThanks Twitter list.