Rhian makes some very good points (here).
I think a lot of us are very obessive these days, but you need to take a wider view of death, money, success and time then usually implied to cover most stereotypes...
For instance, success can mean a lot of things. I'm obsessed to a certain degree with success... but it is success in terms of goals I have set myself. Some people are obsessed with succeding according to societies goals. Success can only be defined in terms of the goals it is measured against.
Which brings us to money... obsession with money could mean an obsession with cold hard cash (think scrooge from Donald Duck), material possessions or freedom. Being obsessed with Death could mean being obsessed with living (fear of death), being obsessed with health or being obsessed with religion (after life)... and although it wasn't mentioned, some of us are obsessed with being in love!
I think being able to live the lives we live is a product of much more then just the people around us, the people who care about us... but if you think back to the start that you get in this world, the statement has a lot of merit. I never did like the saying that we are all born equal, because clearly the kids on cigerette packets under the heading "Smoking can harm your baby" are clearly not born equal, and that is a product of being born to parents who didn't care as much as they should have. On the flip side, Kids born malnourished are not born equal. Kids whose familes cannot support them are not born equal... but it is not a product of the people who care for them.
Is feeling loved and wanted all that matters in the end? I'd like to think that along with feeling loved, I'll feel contented that, as a product of the people who care about me, I did the only thing they ever really asked of me, I tried my best.
What do you want to feel/think in the end? Are you working toward that right now? Is this a meaning of life?
2 comments:
My comments were very general. If I had have went into detail about our obsessions it wouldn’t have made sense. I just think that sometimes we work so hard at the things we think are important to us, as in the things society deems important to us, when actually the reality is something much more simple and obvious. Also, we are socialised into thinking that we need certain things in life, like money, when actually what we need is a balance of a combination of things.
If you look at it literally, of course the ability to live the lives we live has more to do with just the people around us who love us. However, dig deeper and you will see – for everything you do in your life – for everything that happens to you there is a reason; somebody is responsible; something came before.
For example – you want to travel the world. You need money and courage to do this (obviously you need more than that, but let’s just focus on those for now). In order to have money you have to have income - it could be from work or government allowance – whatever. The skills you need to gain these things don’t just come to you like magic! We learn from the people around us – everything that is a part of us is a product of the people who are important to us.
You might say our environment also shapes us – true. But those people who are closest to us are always a part of that environment. They give us the tools with which to cope with the environment. Travelling the world is in vogue at the moment – everybody wants to do it (apparently), but we all want to do it for different reasons and we all view travel differently. The social environment portrays travel as hip, but depending on the people in our lives, the way we were brought up etc – we might accept that notion, reject it or sit on the fence.
I disagree with the fact that parents of malnourished children and families who cannot support children are not responsible for the unequality their children are born into. If they really cared and loved their children – they wouldn’t have had them in the first place. If you can’t support a child or your country is starving – don’t bring a baby into the world! I think that’s just selfish. Do something about the inequality first – then raise a child. If you can’t make a difference – don’t add another mouth to (not) feed.
Feeling loved and wanted is not what matters in the end – having loved and made others feel wanted is what matters. That in turn, should make you feel good about yourself and about life. That’s what’s important.
We should be happy that you tried your best to do what? To love others as they have loved and taught you? To make money? To stick it to the man? What are you trying your best to do? Annoy me?? Hah hah.
For me – I don’t think I’m working toward an end. I just try to make the moments count. Sometimes they fly on by too fast, but that’s okay. If I can treat each day like my whole life I can wake up a newborn, live life to the full and die a little wiser, happier, well fed. Sounds wishy washy and a little off whack, but that’s what I’m trying to do.
Right now I need to go die (sleep, people, sleep!) and start over again – my head hurts.
This sums up my theory kinda well:
"The important thing is to have a good heart, a sense of caring for one another, a sense of community, a sense of humanity. Without these values, a person will not be happy, there will always be some frustrations inside. If you are a believer in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and also if you are a non-believer in any religion, you can still have these values."
The Dalai Lama
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