Topic: A former president of the National Geographic Society once said, "If you don't know where you are, you are no where." Do you agree or disagree? I agree because I find that this quote is true. People who live day by day doing nothing, whether if it's hanging outside with friends in the street during school hours or late hours of the night, or attending school just for attendance, but sitting in class wasting time, going to work and not even doing a good job or the full work it requires are examples of people who are in comfort zones, a place where you are stuck in denial. I'll explain it for better understanding of what I mean. What if you're someone who doesn't feel much peer pressure and, in fact, doesn't feel much pressure to do anything at all? It can be just as bad, however, to go far in the other direction and become a total slug. You see, we also live in denial when we fail to admit to ourselves that we are not living up to our potential and are not creating something significant for our lives, so it is a bit similar when saying that if you don't know know where you are, you are no where because if you can't see what you are doing, you won't succeed. What I mean is that you stop reaching for a higher level of achievement and accomplishment and pretend that your life is okay. You get up, brush your happy hair, throw on some clothes, drag yourself out of your house, and go through the motions of your day. You think you're comfortable, but you're not as happy as you could be. You're in what I call a "comfort zone" and you pretend that it's okay, so you accomlish nothing to take you to higher goals, to make you go somewhere in life, and you end up going no where, and when you look back at everything you've been doing for so long, you don't feel so good about it as the way you thought you would because you have nothing to show for it, especially if you really don't know where you are going in life because life only rewards action and those who know what they want and have goals to achieve are going to get somewhere. Another point I would like to make about this
“I have lived every day of my life asking myself ‘is what I’m doing reflective of who I am? Or who I want to be?’ If not...”
The quote itself can be translated into, an everyday person does not want to be happy and ambition. That person will settle with what will keep them alive. I agree with this quote for a few reasons. To begin, the people in today’s
Ignorance and vanity can be good, in small amounts, but too much can lead to very unwelcome consequences. Connie, a teenage girl who can’t get enough of herself, learned this the hard way when a strange man by the name of Arnold Friend arrives at her house with the intent of taking her on a ‘date’. Instead of calling the police or locking herself in, like common sense would imagine, Connie uneasily greets Arnold from her door when he gets out of his car, instantly letting her vanity and ignorance get the best of her. Joyce Carol Oates shocks the reader with the twist ending in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” in which after hearing Arnold’s threat towards her family, Connie hands herself over to Arnold allowing him
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds”
“Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: The future can be better than the present, and i have the power to make it so.” To succeed in life you have to have willpower and patience. Some people have more willpower and self control than others. Some give into pressure because they don't have patience or self control. You can use certain ways to keep you from giving into pressure such as covering your eyes or moving away from whatever it is that is causing the pressure.
The Perimeter of Ignorance. November 2005. 15 February 2010 http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/universe/211420/the-perimeter-of-ignorance>. U.S. National Park Service - Experience America. 15 February 2010 http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/101space/101setting.htm>.
This pressure can in some cases like Okonkwo can control someone’s life. Okonkwo wanted to be the strong brave man that society told him he had to be but since he was so affected and driven by this it really just shows that he was weak. Janie however was told her whole life to fit into these boxes but she realized that she was not happy because she was hiding pieces of herself that made her special, “The heroine of the novel, Janie, is the first black woman character in African-American fiction to embark on a journey of self-discovery and achieve independence and self-understanding. But she does not do so until she is nearly forty years old” (Diane Telgen and Kevin Hile). The social and cultural expectation of people can greatly affect the way a person behaves and when someone dares to step outside these societal expectations they are commonly ridiculed when really they are the brave ones who are daring to be who they are and bring something new and unique to the world. These differences that each person possesses should not be put down and hidden away by society instead they should be celebrated because these differences make the world a much more interesting
There are two paths to choose from, one leads to the right way while the other leads you to the wrong path. Jim tells John that the right way is the cool looking one with monsters, violence and illicit drugs. James tries to persuade John that the decent path with is the one with priorities, goals and success. John thinks for a second and decides that he wants to be cool instead of responsible. He listened to Jim and before you know it he took the wrong path and chose to be cool for a while than in the long run. Such is the life of being a pressured teenager when there are people with good or bad intentions. Peer pressure affects us all in our lives and it is most potent in our teenage years. When we are growing up as children all we want is to have fun and focus more on what kind of fun will there be next instead of self-discovery or identity. As we mature then we start focusing more on what we like, our interests and who we want to be. A big portion of that is determined by our peers or who we hang around with. That is what makes us become mature adults or broken souls, “It's not unnatural for peer behavior to affect us, but following your peers blindly is not a wise thing to do”. This is when the person decides to make a decision on his own or let his peers decide for him. Will it be the best possible path or will it end up being a disappointment?
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” (Dr.Seuss). Society often thinks of peer pressure as a negative implement. Often times the community imagines peer pressure as teen influencing one another to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and sexual intercourse. But really all peer pressure is, is the encouragement of changing values and behaviors of an individual. Peer pressure can be thought of as positive for teens, because it allows and individual to become a leader in an environment, strong encouragement to work hard in school, and lead a healthy lifestyle.
Peer pressure, it is one of, if not the most, dreaded aspects of the teenage experience. It can ruin lives, cause dissent, and even lead to a person’s death. Despite these negatives, is peer pressure a potential catalyst for positive growth in teens? In response to such a question, yes it can positively affect a person. Next, a new question is brought to light: if it can be a positive experience then in what ways will it be positive? First of all, a teenager is the majority of the time inexperienced when it comes to the new options that begin opening during high school. Peer pressure can give a teen the experience needed to work through these problems and situations more effectively. Secondly, stress is involved with peer pressure like a husband
With all the things that happen on a daily basis in our lives, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Things that you can't control are often the most frustrating. You can also feel bad when you put pressure on yourself -- like to getting good grades or to get promoted at work. A common reaction to stress is to criticize yourself. You may even get so upset that things don't seem fun anymore and life looks pretty grim. When this happens it's easy to think there's nothing you can do to change things. But you can!
If you do not stop feeling sorry for yourself, you can never make any progress. Hope always resides in the subconscious mind of a man. The world can never run ahead without hope. It sets even the dried log to thrive. As Bernard Shaw says "You see things and ask why? I dream things that never were and ask why not" That is the difference between positive and negative thinking.
Ever since I was little I’ve been what you would call a “high achieving” kid. I did well in school, I did well in sports and I did well in my community. I was always the first one to class, and the last one to leave the field. I was the kid that all my friends’ parents compared their children to. I was the kid with a room full of trophies and awards. In my mind, the worst possible thing I could do was disappoint the people around me. In elementary school I was involved in every club imaginable. I was in the band, I played in the orchestra, I sang solos for chorus, I was in the math club, I was president of student council, I played travel soccer, I was involved in every activity possible, and I excelled in all of them. This
Peer pressure can be both a positive and negative influence and will challenge us do things whether they are right or wrong. This is left for you to determine. Peer pressure can influence several areas in your life like; academic performance, who you choose for friends, it can influence who you mat choose for a boyfriend or girlfriend, it can influence decisions about sex, it may change your feelings about alcohol and drug use, and it can even determine your fashion choice.
When you are a teenager and you have friends that ask you to do something for them and you do not then they get mad. Then think you are a loser and that is ever person's nightmare, to not be liked. Peer pressure is no piece of cake. It is like choosing the wrong thing for what you think is right at that very moment, and then regretting it afterwards, because your parents find out. But most would not care about what they do wrong or right. Unless there is a chance of parental disappointment, and a lot of the time that is the case.