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[February 21st 2008|7.14am] |
The standards that we set for ourselves, as well as one another, can be a little sickening sometimes. Some people set them low, some set them higher, but they're all somewhere. We have standards set based on income, standards based on race, and standards based on gender. No matter where, how, or what you're born, you're expected to live up to a certain expectation and behave in a certain manner. Anything outside of that norm is frowned upon and you're expected to correct yourself on it. Sometimes this norm is fair, sometimes it isn't, but no matter what, it'll always be there. Things like that don't change overnight -- it takes years of work, planning, and gradual change for those sorts of standards to become different.
Is it really fair to call people out for being different from what society tells them they should be? To classify people into groups, setting them apart from one another... how healthy is that for all of us in the end? It's the reason so much tension exists. So much mocking. So much hatred. Our own standards and ideals are exactly what hold us back and keep us from progressing. Take women's rights and liberation, for example -- we've not crossed that bridge or found a healthy balance between traditionalism and feminism. We're slowly moving forward, but it's still so ingrained in most brains and most of society that women aren't supposed to be as sexually active as men. It's okay for a male to do a lot of thing in this world, but it's odd for women to do them. The same applies in reverse. Gender defines life, defines everything, whether we realize it or not. You can be too much of one thing, not enough of another. There's no real healthy balance of anything and... is that right or fair?
And then there's the fact people can't handle it when they're told they're doing something wrong or they're not behaving properly. Immediate reaction is to get defensive and lash out, because really, you're just trying to be yourself and screw society and its morals and its need to hold you back. But the laws and rules are there for a reason, aren't they? You can't just go around breaking them and expect people to pat you on the head and feed you a cookie. People are going to get upset. They're going to get annoyed. And, you know what? In a way, a person deserves it, whether society is fair or not. The laws and rules may be holding us back in a lot of respects, but they're also keeping things from falling into utter chaos and the fall of... a lot of things. Is it fair? Not always. But it'll never, ever be something that's changed overnight.
That's not to say you should always conform to society's standards. Never in my life would I tell a person to do that. It's jut that you can do a few things in life: Give in and let the status quo defeat you, rock the boat, or bide your time and let the system work for you, because in time, it will. Something will happen eventually and change is always coming. You just have to choose your path, tread carefully, and hope for happiness and the best.
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| 038 |
[January 20th 2008|4.30am] |
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... oh my God. How she stayed conscious during that is lost on me. Not just stayed conscious, obviously, but managed to do a caesarean section on herself and lived through it.
This kid is pretty awesome too. Five years old, wrestled a rabid fox to the ground, and held it there for a whole minute. Afterwards? He asked for a band-aid. I'd be so damn proud of that kid if he were mine.
It's a little bit amazing to hear stories like that. It reminds you of just how capable just about any human being is of achieving things. A five year old from America can wrestle a rabid fox to protect his siblings. A woman alone in the mountains of Southern Mexico can perform a caeseran section on herself, save the life of her baby, and live through it as well. There are plenty of other feats as well, obviously, big and small, but finding things like this really makes you realize how fascinating the human race is. The abilities we have. The things we can do if we're so determined.
Most people fail to realize or reach their full potential, which honestly, is depressing. Some people don't try because of fear of failing. They're so afraid to let go and just try something and go for their goals that they'd rather not even attempt them. Some people try, fail, and are afraid to ever try again because of one setback.
Other people take their chance to fly. They throw caution to the winds and do whatever their heart, their instinct, tells them to do. They take off with the wind at their heels and just let go. If they fall, they get up again, and go right back to running. They may not achieve life-changing or mind-boggling things, but they're the ones who make the real differences in the world.
To be in either of those categories is terrifying. Take the chances and risk being hurt or not take the chance and risk out on a potentially amazing opportunity.
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
I guess you need both types of people in the world for things to function. Everything comes around full circle, everyone relies on one another, and without one the other wouldn't have reason to be how they are. Optimists would have no reason to go against the grain and prove anyone wrong. Pessimists would have no reason to be so... pessimistic. The compliment and complete one another and, in the end, it's those differences that make the world an amazing place.
As for me? I'd rather spread my wings and fly than be on the ground terrified to take that jump. Maybe I'll get hurt, maybe I won't, but I want to take as many chances in life as I can and not miss out on a thing.
Ash's birthday party went well, thank goodness. I love that girl way too much for things to go horribly and she seemed to love it! So, all is right and well.
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| Anon/Spam/Whatever else here! |
[October 17th 2007|11.35pm] |
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