Im going to discuss something with myself that I dont yet fully understand. Ive brought it up in some form or another with several people of different type. I brought it up to one of my most care-free friends here, one of my most responsible friends here, and two faculty members without context were asked two different questions yielding somewhat contradictory advice. Heres the issue: How should someone live their life? Its so incredibly subjective, and there is no one-size-fits-all to be found. This much I know to be true. Well Ive decided that I want to live my life happily. That works fine for me, and bears the question: What makes you happy? Well I used to have a list, as follows: 1.Necessities (food, water, shelter) 2. Family 3. Friends 4. Intelligence 5. Talent/skill 6. Health 7. Confidence 8. Financial stability (or at least it relieves some stress) 9. Spiritual fulfillment of some kind 10. Love (in a more romantic sense) Ive come to decide that, though these are things for which I am grateful (and hey that fits in with a thanksgiving-themed status), Ive renewed my views. I believe that YOU makes YOU happy. I can make or break my own happiness. I also found that Happiness isnt an ever-lasting emotion. No emotion lasts forever. it is one to be nurtured, and cultivated. One can do so through optimism, reflection, and of course the above list helps. My responsible friend said, The way I see it, life has its ups and downs, but the best way to be happy about it is to accept that fact, and move past it. My more care-free friend argues that there are people out there that will give you shit, but you cant worry about them. You gotta trust yourself, and believe youre doing it right Both sentiments I highly respect. You see, I have concluded from this that a sure fire ticket to happiness is, as they always said, Be yourself, and do what makes you happy. Well I try to live my life that way. But I often come across people who react negatively toward it. They dont seem to appreciate my brand of silly behavior. They dont seem too keen on my apparently strange Me-ish-ness. Many share the view that I have to grow up. I respect that, to some extent, but it seems like many have misconstrued growing up to mean forgetting the fun in life, and making everything cynical... Forget the image of a perfect world, and make no effort in achieving the impossible... To which I generally respond, why should I grow up If Im happy to be who I am now? I will say this: Theres a time and a place to be Serious, Professional, Formal, and Mature. Theres also a time and place to be Goofy, Ridiculous, Silly, or Weird. Understanding that is important, and of course I believe growing up is learning when and where one can act which way. Well anyway, I asked a professor here what He thought about growing up versus becoming a cynical grumpy person. He said, Often times when someone acts poorly to you, its because of their own problems, or demons. Usually it has nothing to do with you...the best thing you can do is be yourself and be true to yourself. Thats all you can do really. Today in my conversation with my carefree friend, we grappled more with how to handle other peoples negativity on the quest for positivity... But you know truth is just as subjective as the initial question, How should one live their life? If everyone agrees that Im wrong for acting the way that I do, am I wrong? If everyone jumps off a bridge should I do it too? Simply put no. It takes a great deal of strength to stay true to oneself in the face of adversity. I asked a different professor - completely out of context, If the entire world is wrong and youre right, are you right? to which she responded, no. Its hard to accept but, usually if the entire world shares a view, and you disagree, youre wrong. I followed up with the question, But what if youre actually right?? She, who was taken off-guard by my drive-by philosophical questioning, compared it to a choir. If everyones singing the wrong pitch, and youre singing the right one, wouldnt it be easier for you to just sing the pitch everyone else is? A fair point. It would be easier. But if the composer had been in the audience, he/she might prefer fixing the problem to having everyone conform to it. She also added, that it depends on the constructs. If there is a clear definition of right and wrong, as in What color is the sky? those that say blue are right, unless its cloudy. Those who say anything else are wrong. But what if the question is Why are we here? well people could argue and discuss infinite possibilities and never be right or wrong, because well never know. So in that case, I suppose its hard to say. The question is When is it okay to go against the majority, and when is it better to deal with it? If I truly believe Im right about acting the way I do, and being the way I am, then I should do/be that way. Yes, it might be easier to conform to the people who hate everything, but I wouldnt be happy to do so. And sometimes it might be better that I dont do whats easier but rather whats more important to me. So how seriously should I take life? How much should I care? Ive taken my life far more seriously since coming to college, where I believe life starts being a real entity. But I care about the same amount. I care incredible amounts about Music, and Teaching, and Camp, and Judaism. I care incredible amounts about lots of stuff... I care about money. I kinda have to to get by in this world. Its because I care about money, that Im forced to take my honors classes seriously... As far as how seriously? Well I should take life seriously enough to be successful, but I should only care about things I genuinely care about. I should be as my professor said, true to myself and true to the things I care about. But I should be serious about life, without forgetting to have fun in life. Its important to find my happy medium - which is incredibly difficult. Its a challenge for another status. Morals of the story: Things dont make you happy, YOU make YOU happy Being happy takes work, and it wont last 24/7 Life has ups and downs, and accepting that will help you appreciate the ups, and cope with the downs. Its important to be yourself, and not take life too seriously If everyones wrong, and youre right - its easier to conform Sometimes the easy way isnt the right thing to do It takes strength to be true to yourself Its important to care
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 21:27:06 +0000
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