As a man, a son, a brother, and a
friend, I contemplate just what is my role in the world? Why am I here? And
although this is a very vague question that can be taken in many different
directions, my thought process wanders inconspicuously in a way not many people
my age think. As a human, we all have
titles (Father, Mother, boss, employee, doctor, ect.) correct? And we earn
those titles either by marriage, by working your way to a diploma and gaining a
job, and proceeding to excel at that job.
But, before you ever “earn” a title, you do in fact have one. What is this nonsense in which I speak? Let
me clarify. Just as every person is
given a name at birth, every person is meant to play a role on this planet. You
were put here for a reason. Although I
am a highly religious man, I will refrain from making this a matter of faith.
The point in which I am trying to
make is that a title can be given, but the most important title is given to
you. You have the title of human. With that title you can lead many different directions,
positive and negative. This direction in which you perceive your “title” is how
you lead your life. Every person is given an opportunity to do great things.
Each person has talents, some undiscovered, and some that will benefit the
world in a form or fashion. The thought
process each person has leads to the degree in which the talents you are given
are used.
So how do we demonstrate our maximum
potential as human beings? Allow your
mind to see past life’s everyday frustrations and tragedies and move in a
direction swaying from the norm. Sounds
easy enough, right? So why isn’t every human being meeting their full potential
and the world full of peaches and cream by now?
Easy, that takes effort. Human
nature is slothful and I am as guilty as anyone. And as slothful as we are, we are just as
vain, selfish, vindictive, and angry.
Someone has wronged you. Your
parents are not the parents you feel you should have had. Your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse left you
with no real explanation; better yet they cheated on you. Human nature is to shut down and become the
entire list stated above. Can a person
in this state of mind meet their full potential? Of course not. Will a person go throughout their entire life
and never have any bump in the road occur? No way. So it is impossible for a person who had
something bad happen to them to immediately be back on the track to a sound
mind, well not quite. Don’t allow a blip
blocking the sun to take away all of its rays, move and allow yourself to get
warm.
The meaning of life? Such an easy
question, such a complicated answer. My
opinion? Take the title you are given and make the most of it. Use your title
to the fullest degree. Be the best human
that you can be. Will this happen? For 95%
of us, no. Is this a problem? Very much
so. This may seem as if its condemning to
everyone, that is not the case. The
human mind is capable of love, compassion, caring, understanding, wisdom, and
knowledge. The combination of those is a
large part to gaining a grasp of the concept of “life”. Just think, what if we,
who are given the “title” of “human” really and truly let go of all petty
things and allowed themselves the opportunity to take that title and run with
it? As long as a human mind is available to learn, there is always a
chance.
“it
isn’t really the capacity to think, but rather the choice of what to think
about” –David Foster Wallace
