Through our everyday lives, we see, feel, touch, hear, and taste so much. We sense the world around us. But through all the things that our minds are forced to process, through all the blurry haze of the internal fog, do we ever reach a point of clarity? We can reason through everything, let science be our guides in the physical world and philosophy and faith to be the escort through our internal beings. But past all the external forces that lead us to see some resoultion, don't we have to ultimately decide into which rabbit hole we jump into? If we have to decide what it is we truly believe then at some point we have to take that jump of faith regardless of all the chaos and uncertainty before us. This realization has made it so much easier for me to understand the people who are devoted to God or people who have such drastic views that I inherently think are wrong. I mean in their perspective, I can concede that they are completely justified and correct. But that got me thinking? When did I consciously decide to believe the things that I believe? I don't think that I ever consciously did.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Experiences of a Lifetime
My summer has been pretty uneventful. I've been indulging in my secret addiction: crappy teen fiction and Nutella. Doesn't get much better than that. But somehow in my vortex of inactivity and lethargy, I garnered enough sense to get into this camp called RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award. And now you're probably thinking, what the hell is RYLA? Well that's what I was thinking when I walked into the arms of 5 different, extremely exuberant, and overly friendly junior counselors. So after a week of heartfelt and physically brutal activity, I can tell you all that RYLA is one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. It's right up there next to Disney World and the Magical World of Harry Potter. To be around the most open and seemingly nonjudgmental people, really allowed me to open up and purge. Not that I don't do that already. But this was grand scale emotional release somewhere along the lines of Old Faithful and Mt. Saint Helens. But the most lasting part that I took away from the camp, came from the wise words or one, Corey Ciocchetti. See when people give talks or lectures, they can either 1) Talk at you or 2) Talk to you, and most of the time you run into the former (i.e. parents, counselors, etc.) However for the very first time, I felt like I was made aware of all my problems and internal struggles without feeling targeted or put on the spot. And for the first time, I wasn't just being lectured about my problems. I was being told how to solve them instead. So here I am clacking away at this computer, ready to share the gems of insight that have fallen into my lap.
Professor Ciocchetti mentions this tale of a race dog that decides to quit running because he has realizes that all his life he has been chasing fake, white rabbits (or something along those lines). And the whole point of this story was to point out the metaphorical significance it holds in relation to all of our daily lives. All of us to some extent (unless you are a perfect specimen of the human species like Ryan Gosling) are chasing fake white rabbits, namely some false goal that we seek to reach that keeps us from achieving what would make us truly happy. For some that may be popularity or superficial looks, for some like me it may be having a good enough transcript to appeal to the committees in the Ivy League offices. We chase these things thinking that once they are in our grasp, we can be happy. But it is all for naught. We need to look past these things that are holding us back from our real selves and our real happiness because come on.
Those people around you who claim to be your friends as of now, turned their backs on that one kid because he got caught drinking or smoking. Those same friends are the ones who turned their backs on that one chick because she got pregnant. Those superficial friends that you make, are the very first ones to run when the going gets tough. The wise man once said that your true friends are the ones that will rush into your life in your time of need and I am so greatful that I have friends that I can confidently say will do just that for me.
Professor Ciocchetti mentions this tale of a race dog that decides to quit running because he has realizes that all his life he has been chasing fake, white rabbits (or something along those lines). And the whole point of this story was to point out the metaphorical significance it holds in relation to all of our daily lives. All of us to some extent (unless you are a perfect specimen of the human species like Ryan Gosling) are chasing fake white rabbits, namely some false goal that we seek to reach that keeps us from achieving what would make us truly happy. For some that may be popularity or superficial looks, for some like me it may be having a good enough transcript to appeal to the committees in the Ivy League offices. We chase these things thinking that once they are in our grasp, we can be happy. But it is all for naught. We need to look past these things that are holding us back from our real selves and our real happiness because come on.
Those people around you who claim to be your friends as of now, turned their backs on that one kid because he got caught drinking or smoking. Those same friends are the ones who turned their backs on that one chick because she got pregnant. Those superficial friends that you make, are the very first ones to run when the going gets tough. The wise man once said that your true friends are the ones that will rush into your life in your time of need and I am so greatful that I have friends that I can confidently say will do just that for me.
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