“Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
— Albert Camus, Nobel Prize winning author
It is 3 o’clock on a Monday morning. You’re sitting on a cold, hard bench staring at the ground, franticly attempting to make up a cover story for what you had been doing. However, as luck would have it, you find yourself utterly unable to do so. Sitting beside you is the guy that you had just been caught with and you can tell that he’s having the same creative difficulties as you. Finally you look over at each other, sigh, and accept your fate. He smiles, gives you a high-five, and says to you, “Totally worth it!”
Throughout our lives, we all find ourselves constantly asking and repeating a lot of the same questions, and all of us coming up with a manifold of different answers, each of which being dependent upon where we stand at said points in our lives. In my opinion though, the most important question we ever ask ourselves though is, “Where am I going?” Now, I don’t mean this in the literal sense of what is the destination you are trying to reach so much as I’m asking your endgame is. What will this decision lead to in my life as a whole? How would my life differ if I were to make this choice as opposed to doing something completely different? Our lives are our own to live and do with as we please, but on our journeys we will all grapple with vastly different challenges containing many of the same overall characteristics which should all converge upon asking yourself, “Where am I going?”, “What path will this decision lead me down?”, and “Will I be proud of the life and the version of myself that this produces?”
As we all come from various backgrounds and seek...
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...even just settling down to raise a family with a loving spouse, happiness is everyone’s endgame. It is my steadfast belief that no matter how many times you ask yourself where you are going, you are there because of your friends, both past and present. Therefore, why in the world would we try to consider anything to be of greater value than that of our friendships? For many reasons, from the power we possess to the money we obtain, our jobs constantly put us in a position to either follow behind or swagger in front of our fellow people. Only with true friends can you gracefully walk alongside one another, trusting each other completely, and not feeling any need to be anyone besides yourself. Money, power, and other temporary outlets of content aside, we could all live a much happier and peaceful life if we accept friendship as the most important value in our lives.
William James once said that “Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action." Everyone living in a society we live in today are putting in efforts to obtain happiness. Many individuals will pursue that happiness while others will compromise it. To achieve happiness, everyone has their own methods, but sometimes it will not work, when you realize you can’t always have what you want. In the text To Kill A Mockingbird and the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, Harper Lee and Shakespeare developed the idea that every individual pursue or compromise happiness differently because we have different beliefs and values that shapes our identities. Compromise can seem like a negative thing, but in some situations it is crucial to happiness. It is not possible to always everything you want in life but the desire of pursuing happiness provide individuals with more satisfaction than compromising happiness.
As I reflect on my college life, I wonder about the choices I have made that have led me to where I am today and that will guide me into shaping who I long to become. The things I have had to sacrifice, the support and experiences I have had with family, friends, strangers and work colleagues. I don’t know what I will be doing three months or thirty years from now but I do know that I want to have new experiences. When I graduated from high school, I knew I didn’t want to be that person that moved back to the same town and stayed there for the rest of my life. I even contemplate leaving the United States in my adult life. Who really knows, maybe those cards are still in the deck. For now, I know my immediate goals include focusing on completing my college education the best I can, and moving away from my comfort zone, broadening my horizons and taken risks.
Dale Carnegie once expressed, “Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.” Analyzing this quote, it is crucial to note the underlining theme that happiness, true and genuine happiness, requires a shifting away from conformity and the status quo in order to discover the treasure found in one’s own self. Therefore, finding out who one’s self is mandates a state of solitude which acts like the green pastures by the still waters that restores the soul. However, with its roaring and hungry fire that sends up flutters of red and yellow and orange and white fireflies soaring into the carnivorous night, conflict is the key ingredient in shifting away from acquiescence and society’s present state of affairs.
As Walt Disney once said, “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” Walt Disney is one of the best known founders for a motion - picture production company. This infamous and plausible man is among the many who support the claim that happiness can be achieved in an assortment of ways by contenting both adults and children. Maanvi Singh’s , “You Can Buy Happiness, If It’s An Experience,” Caitlin Kenney’s “Study: ‘High Incomes Don’t Bring You Happiness’” and ABC News’ “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” assert how one can achieve happiness. Genuine happiness can only be attained if one truly accepts what their lives present them with. Even though several beliefs claim that money is the key to stimulating
“Follow your heart. Life is not a straight line there are lots of curves, circles, and detours. Each and every experience will give you something valuable. Keep close to those you love and who love you. Family is so important. Always do your best, be honest with yourself and others, have integrity, be dependable, like who you are, change what you don't like, keep learning, keep trying, you are better than you think.” (Rodríguez)
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” said John F. Kennedy. Most people today have less concern about the purpose of lives. This lead to the the three questions which set by Dr. Clayton M. Christensen in July 2010 on the article named “How Will You Measure Your Life?”. The first question is will you happy in your career?, Is family the source of happiness? and Will you stay out of jail?. All these questions help us to think more about our “lives”. In the article, Christensen divided the topic into six parts and all parts are essential. In my point of view, I found that the most interesting topic is “Create a Strategy for Your Life.” because the clear purpose helps us to identify the meaning of life, create success and stop wasting time.
“The important thing is for my kids to be happy and healthy, You should choose whatever career will make you happiest. I just want to be happy” (Haybron, 287). All of these basic claims that people refer to when thinking of what will make them happy connect to Leslie Marmon Silko’s view of how old-Pueblo people determine beauty. When a person’s kids are happy and healthy they experience longer sustainable relationships with their loved ones. Relationships with family and friends are connections that people cherish dearly. When these relationships are cut short people experience depression and sadness. Humans also have an inevitable fear of being alone, when loved ones are sick or dying people’s happiness can deteriorate detrimentally. Also, when a person chooses a career that will make them happy it can create positive interactions and relationships on a daily basis. If you are miserable every day at work but are making large amounts of money you will not necessarily be happy. Choosing a career that will make your life more positive can create a chain effect of happiness. People’s basic definitions of happiness reach to a further level of basic needs of relationships and interactions that people see as necessities. When these necessities are achieved one has a better chance of achieving their personal
He further shows us that the people of today are richer than their grandparents but are not happier in their lives (from National Statistics of social pathology). Even with these facts, people in the United States still believe if they had more money all of their problems would be solved, but once they reach that next income bracket they are not satisfied and try to reach the next one. Myers et al tells us, "even if being rich and famous is rewarding, no one ever claimed material success alone makes us happy. Other conditions like - family- friends- free time - have been shown to increase happiness" (Csikszentmihaly 145). therefore we must find balance in our own lives, and not just focus on making money. Instead we need friends, family and even free time, as aforementioned doing an activity you enjoy such as listening to music or
There I lay in bed, tormented by the same question.The kind of question those who seem to have all the answers, simply cannot answer.The kind of question that runs through your head after a bizarre dream.The kind of question those who are closest to death ask themselves.But I wasn't close to death, nor was I waking up from a wild dream.I was simply a regular seventeen year old boy fearing the life that would come after graduation.Staring at the ceiling, I took a deep breath and exhaled as the question raced across my mind once again,”what’s next”,
“Never underestimate your own strength. You were born for a purpose and are blessed with the power to achieve it” (Leon Brown). I have this quote printed out and on the wall next to my door so I can see it every day as a reminder to myself. I believe that we all have a purpose on this earth and that everything we go through on the journey there has a reason whether to teach a lesson or set an example. We have places where we want to end up and goals we want to achieve. We set these goals and dreams to help us fulfill the purpose we see for ourselves. I believe my purpose is to help people in their times of need. To fulfill my purpose, I will need to use my personal, academic and career goals to create a pathway to get to where I want to be
become happy if they get miserable the life of others. On the other hand, money can’t buy happiness.
Everyone tries to lead a good life. It is human nature to want to be happy and successful, and to find internal contentment, but what truly defines the good life? Everyone makes decisions about the person they want to be and what is most important to them: Which do you value more, your wealth or your friendships? Do you want to be famous or truly loved? Do you care what people think or are you just trying to please yourself?
What exactly is happiness anyway? Happiness is when you feel complete and satisfied. It is when you’re content with where you are and what you have. It is the joy of doing something you love, or spending time with someone you love. It is an emotion and the best one yet. Money can easily make a person temporarily happy with the possessions it can buy, but true happiness is more than that. People can have everything material wise and still not be happy. Sure it can buy you many things, but the happiness from it is only temporary and limited. There’s only so much happiness you can buy with money. Money can easily buy you food, a clock, a house, education, make-up or medication; however it can’t buy you nutrition, time, a home, knowledge, beauty or health. It can buy you infatuation, but not love, acquaintances but not friendship and hierarchy but not respect. People spend their entire lives trying to make more and more money thinking that it means success. They neglect family and friends, don’t care about who they take down to reach their ...
My whole life I have lived with a single thought in the back of my mind, that thought haunted me sometimes and made me worry about who I might become as a person in the future. I always wondered what I was going to do with my life even when I was young. With the consistent pressure from my parents to work at a young age and to also keep up with my good grades, I began to develop a lot of stress. Through it all, I realized that enjoying time spending time with my friends and sitting on my latest console gaming all day was going to change.
Imagine settling for a life you can have because you don't have the courage to go after the life you really want. That's what made me do it-make one of those decisions-the kind that bends your future in a whole new direction.