I don't think I will ever understand the human race. It seems to me like we are all after the same thing: success. However, one person's success is another's failure. Right? For example, to one person, getting into Stanford Law School would be the greatest success in the world. It would make many people very proud to say that they got into such a prestigious university. But then, you have the person who applies to a few schools, really wants to get into Harvard but gets into Stanford instead. This constitutes a huge blow for that person as their idea of success is going to Harvard, not Stanford.
This is quite a bad example as it turns out, but nevertheless, it proves my point. Regardless of our ideas of success, we are all looking for it.
As I come upon graduation from college within the next two months, I am becoming increasingly more stressed out because of school. Mainly the future, but also school. And not school that I am studying now; school as in, graduate school. Yes, after much deliberation and changing of my mind, I have decided that I am going to try to get into a program for my MBA. I have no idea whether I will actually get in or not but this leads me to my next point.
One of the most compelling reasons I have for never being able to understand the human race is its ability to step on people to get to the top. Don't get me wrong, I admire perseverance and I admire determination. I feel that these are qualities that I have (if I don't, well, I hope I attain them some day). But where is the line between determination and destruction? Tell me, how can anyone go to bed at night and feel good about themselves after having lied and cheated their way to the top? There is an expression that is used (mainly by women) to describe these people, "climbing their way to the top in stiletto heels". Hey, I were some pretty hot stiletto heels but I will not be caught dead stepping on people just to attain success.
Maybe this makes me weak. Probably. But I believe in ethics. So to me, it isn't fair to get something because you lied. And of course everyone tells their little white lies; but to tell a lie not to spare the feelings of a friend or avoid an awkward conversation but to attain some type of glory is ridiculous to me. So yeah, maybe I will never get the highest paying job because of this, but I think I will feel better about myself knowing I did the right thing in at least one part of my life. Because Lord knows I have made lots of mistakes and continue to make them. When it comes to this though, I will not be shaken.
Wouldn't it be nice though, to get that awesome job, to finally get to your own personal definition of success, and know that you didn't use your transparent connections or fables but your knowledge, ethics, and experience? If more people thought this way, maybe we would be a more peaceful country. Or world even. Although, the more years I put in on this earth, I realize most people will never be like that. I guess it just comes down to that ultimate challenge: you against yourself. So who will win? The person the world expects you to be or the person you should be? Let me say this though, when you do finally figure out that life has so much more to offer than fighting your way up to the metaphorical top in the most unattractive ways, you will probably learn that life is a much happier place. And that is the type of place I want to be living.
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