Life Choices
One might call it a coping mechanism, but I feel like I've always been under the impression that my big decision are actually not that big, and that in the end it doesn't really matter because life has a way of equalizing itself. I think I have to tell myself that because my own life seems to have hit a series of dead ends as a result of what in hindsight appear to be bad choices (or at least that's one interpretation; the other is that I lack a certain stick-to-it-ness that would see me though those bad times and give me time to bring my decisions to good fruition).
Anyways, the point I'm driving at is that I've been seeing a lot more unwashed masses these days, and that got me thinking that there might be something flawed about the above-described belief. Presumably all those people got to where they are at because of some of the choices they made. Luck also probably had a hand in determining their fates, which is central to my previously held thesis, but I'm starting to admit that maybe self-determination is much larger and more terrifying than I'd like it to be.
The same hold true for those who are fortunate/made good life choices. I must have always told myself, to ward off envy, that the successful people got to where they are because they were in the right place at the right time, or else so incredibly toolish that they forced themselves on the Right Place and the Right Time even if they weren't wanted (keep in mind that this system completely eliminates the variable of "hard work" which would introduce too many complications of deserved vs. undeserved rewards). But maybe there's just something to be said about being smart about life. Just thinking about the options carefully, and making good choices.
The problem is that I'd like to think that that was what I was doing when I was following my instinct or heart or passion or whatever. But there's a reason why Plato separated the rational impulse of the soul from the passionate part. Perhaps it's a mistake to think that I have good reasons for my choices just because it was what I wanted most.
Anyways, the point I'm driving at is that I've been seeing a lot more unwashed masses these days, and that got me thinking that there might be something flawed about the above-described belief. Presumably all those people got to where they are at because of some of the choices they made. Luck also probably had a hand in determining their fates, which is central to my previously held thesis, but I'm starting to admit that maybe self-determination is much larger and more terrifying than I'd like it to be.
The same hold true for those who are fortunate/made good life choices. I must have always told myself, to ward off envy, that the successful people got to where they are because they were in the right place at the right time, or else so incredibly toolish that they forced themselves on the Right Place and the Right Time even if they weren't wanted (keep in mind that this system completely eliminates the variable of "hard work" which would introduce too many complications of deserved vs. undeserved rewards). But maybe there's just something to be said about being smart about life. Just thinking about the options carefully, and making good choices.
The problem is that I'd like to think that that was what I was doing when I was following my instinct or heart or passion or whatever. But there's a reason why Plato separated the rational impulse of the soul from the passionate part. Perhaps it's a mistake to think that I have good reasons for my choices just because it was what I wanted most.
posted by Rex at 12:47 PM
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