Devin's Draft

“Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” This is what Henry David Thoreau said in Walden, and his words speak to me. We live in a world that is obsessed with moving forward. In one giant competition, we want to be faster, stronger, greater. We want to be the best. One may want to be the best runner, or the fastest swimmer. Or perhaps be the smartest, or the smartest. In our obsession with advancing and excelling, we are losing sight of things that should also be important to us. Owning the latest “smart” phone or the newest car is not what can truly make us happy, but blind us to other blessings we have already been given. Simply walking outside in the morning and looking up at the sky, listening to the sounds around us can be more fulfilling than any of those superficial needs. Taking the time to appreciate your family and friends can bring fantastic satisfaction. Looking at the things you take for granted everyday that others in this world could never dream of having is something more people need to do. We need to stop, and simply look around.

            Just as we all fall into the rush of the human race we live in, I myself will lose sight of what is the most important. Spending most of my time in surrounded by other adolescents yearning to belong, searching for themselves and in that process, mimicking the behavior and style of those students they wish they could be, I find myself doing the same thing. Everyone wants to fit in, but is that always the best answer? How can we truly discover who we are and love our own personalities, style, and quirks if we are attempting to be like people who we see that we envy. Those $200 designer jeans are beautiful and sparkly, but wearing them because everyone else does will not define me, and not make me better or worse. Buying myself a new iPhone 5s will not make me someone I want to be. All of these superficial desires that are drilled in us from the day we are born make us lose sight of what may truly matter. I would rather wear the same outfit everyday, have no phone or tablet, and walk everywhere I go than lose what is ultimately important to me. My family, my history, my friends, myself. The love for the world around me.

            Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “ […] few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. at least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.”  Emerson was a man who appreciated everything. He spoke of how no one constantly admires the glory of the stars in the night sky, but how everyone would marvel if they were only there for one night. Being one with the world can bring great satisfaction. Everyday I try to recognize everything in my life that makes it great, and I try and help others do the same. Spending time outside of the daily routine, the same faces, the normal lifestyle you live, can bring some amazing perspective in to what is amazing about your life. One of the best ways to do this is travel. Go somewhere you’ve never gone. Meet people you would never spoken to before. Even trying new foods can do this for you. It certainly has for me. With every new place I go, a new outlook on the world comes with it. Though I will never fully accomplish it, I will never stop trying to go beyond what is trending lately, look through all the competition of life, break free from the stereotypes I am expected to follow, and find what we all ultimately want: harmony with ourselves.