BasicInstinct
Senior Don Juan
"I think there is a rebellatory experience awaiting everyone that has to do with finding out who and what you really are. And when it occurs, if it occurs, you’ve reached nirvana-heaven. And to the degree in which you don’t reach that place of realization- you’re in an eternal hell."
Being an only child, I have lived a very sheltered life. My parents always taught me what to do, how to act, and what was right. Don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. Get good grades in school and you’ll get to go to a good college and get a good job. Then you’ll find the right girl and get married and have a family and live happily ever after. And for a long time, I did what they told me to do. But like most of us, we went through a rebellious stage where we purposely did what our parents, teachers, and authority figures told us not to do. Maybe in high school we smoked pot in bathroom for the first time. Maybe we skipped school a couple of times so we could hang out with a girl. Or maybe we took things to an extreme and we rejected what they said all together.
I took the last path. I started hanging around with people my parents told me not to. I started drinking, smoking, and doing lots of drugs. I had fun at the time and thought to myself, fvck my parents, what do they know? How could they judge my life and dictate what I should or should not do? I’m am individual, not a machine they can control and dictate. I control my own destiny, not them. But then things started going wrong- my health started to deteriorate, I almost dropped out of school, and I got into a serious car accident. When my life started going downhill, where were my new "friends"? Where were they when I was in the hospital or sitting in jail?
That’s when I learned that life isn’t as simple as I thought it was. It turned out my parents were right all along, but I needed to experience it for myself. Do I regret any of my actions? No, not really. I learned things the hard way, and I came out a better person for it. I know who to trust and who not to. I learned some things are ok in moderation. I learned to control my behavior and I finally realized who I was.
But for too many of us, we don’t go through this realization. We listen to what others tell us is right and we accept it at face value. Well let me tell you guys right now: I want you to take the training wheels off your bicycles right now and go for a ride down that steep hill. I want you to stand up in that class you hate and scream to your professor that his class sucks. I want you to ask for that raise from your boss and I want him to say no. I want you to ask that hot girl you’re been obsessing over and I want her to reject you. I want you to feel the pain, the rejection. I want you to hurt.
But then, I want you to get up after you’ve fallen down from your bike. I want you to think about what you did wrong as you go home, put some bandages on your scrapes and it over again. I want you to really think about whether what your counselor is saying is true or not after your professor kicks you out of his class. I want you to wonder if it’s really worth it as your boss laughs his as5 off. And I want you to think of all this as you go up to the next hot girl you see. But what I don’t want you do is stay down and wallow in your failure. I don’t want you to say that you’re not going to do it ever again. Because it’s only through adversity that we truly realize who we are and we become a better person. And I know there is a better person in all of us. I know it.
Good luck.
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Always outnumbered, never outgunned.
It's not safe to hope for the best, without preparing for the worst.
[This message has been edited by BasicInstinct (edited 05-12-2002).]
Being an only child, I have lived a very sheltered life. My parents always taught me what to do, how to act, and what was right. Don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. Get good grades in school and you’ll get to go to a good college and get a good job. Then you’ll find the right girl and get married and have a family and live happily ever after. And for a long time, I did what they told me to do. But like most of us, we went through a rebellious stage where we purposely did what our parents, teachers, and authority figures told us not to do. Maybe in high school we smoked pot in bathroom for the first time. Maybe we skipped school a couple of times so we could hang out with a girl. Or maybe we took things to an extreme and we rejected what they said all together.
I took the last path. I started hanging around with people my parents told me not to. I started drinking, smoking, and doing lots of drugs. I had fun at the time and thought to myself, fvck my parents, what do they know? How could they judge my life and dictate what I should or should not do? I’m am individual, not a machine they can control and dictate. I control my own destiny, not them. But then things started going wrong- my health started to deteriorate, I almost dropped out of school, and I got into a serious car accident. When my life started going downhill, where were my new "friends"? Where were they when I was in the hospital or sitting in jail?
That’s when I learned that life isn’t as simple as I thought it was. It turned out my parents were right all along, but I needed to experience it for myself. Do I regret any of my actions? No, not really. I learned things the hard way, and I came out a better person for it. I know who to trust and who not to. I learned some things are ok in moderation. I learned to control my behavior and I finally realized who I was.
But for too many of us, we don’t go through this realization. We listen to what others tell us is right and we accept it at face value. Well let me tell you guys right now: I want you to take the training wheels off your bicycles right now and go for a ride down that steep hill. I want you to stand up in that class you hate and scream to your professor that his class sucks. I want you to ask for that raise from your boss and I want him to say no. I want you to ask that hot girl you’re been obsessing over and I want her to reject you. I want you to feel the pain, the rejection. I want you to hurt.
But then, I want you to get up after you’ve fallen down from your bike. I want you to think about what you did wrong as you go home, put some bandages on your scrapes and it over again. I want you to really think about whether what your counselor is saying is true or not after your professor kicks you out of his class. I want you to wonder if it’s really worth it as your boss laughs his as5 off. And I want you to think of all this as you go up to the next hot girl you see. But what I don’t want you do is stay down and wallow in your failure. I don’t want you to say that you’re not going to do it ever again. Because it’s only through adversity that we truly realize who we are and we become a better person. And I know there is a better person in all of us. I know it.
Good luck.
------------------
Always outnumbered, never outgunned.
It's not safe to hope for the best, without preparing for the worst.
[This message has been edited by BasicInstinct (edited 05-12-2002).]
