Dare To Be Yourself

     Throughout my Blog I have talked about a bunch of different social expectations. The big question now is, "what do we do about it?".

     The sad part is, you will never be able to escape the expectation and judgement of society. The most you can do is try to ignore it. If you do not care than people will be less likely to bug you about it.

     It doesn't matter how old you or what you look like, or what you believe in; society has no right to have certain expectations of you. You are an unique individual. Nobody should be forced to be someone they are not.

     It is scary to think of everyone changing to fit in with societal expectations. A world like that would be too boring, too formulaic. There has to be a sense of wonder and interest in the world. If you could know exactly how someone would act based on social expectations. it takes all the fun away from discovering a person for yourself.

     You should be the judge of what you think of someone, not what society thinks. The only way you can escape society expectations is to not fall for them yourself. Ever heard of the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? It is true. Everyone is unique. It is your job to prove society wrong. Don't judge anyone until you have had an actual conversation with them. Get to know them a bit before deciding what you think of them.

     It is important to remember that you will be judged. You will be ridiculed for what you like or what you believe in at some point in your life. The trick is not letting this change you. So what if someone doesn't like you? That's their problem, not yours. You should never change who you are just to fit in with society.

     Chances are, there is someone like you that you do not know about. Just because society judges you as something, does not mean that everyone will judge you the same way. You have to trust in the fact there are others out there like you, that won't force you to be anyone but yourself.

     As you should be.

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Acceptance into a Group

 
     Society says if you act a certain way or dress a certain way you will be accepted into a different social group. If you do not live up to these social "norms" you will not be accepted into that group.

     For instance, if you want to be popular you have to dress and act differently than the others around you. You have to stand out, yet fit in at the same time. To be popular you must be well dressed, usually have some money in your pocket, and talk down to all of the non-popular people beneath you. If you do not do this, you will not be considered popular to society.

     You can also be put into different groups unwillingly according to social norms. If you are smart, wear glasses and like to have intellectual debates you could be considered a nerd. This may be true, but it is not pleasant to be put into a group that you do not necessarily agree with.

     Just because you like a certain style does not mean you need to be put into groups, especially if that group is considered negative. People often mistake how a person dresses versus how a person acts. Society says that teenagers that dress like Goths (all black, dark makeup, etc) are people that often cause a lot of trouble. They are rude, and they only care for themselves. This may be true for one or two of the people that dress this way, but it doesn't mean they are all this way.

     Another problem with put people into different social groups would be the exceptions. What about the people that do not fit into a social group? They are left on the outside with not ability to find a group to fit into. In this society acceptance is very important, most people do not feel complete unless they feel a kind of acceptance into society. So putting people into groups forces people to be a certain way to fit in. Everyone will find away to be accepted into society, even if they are not being the person they actual are.

     Often society looks only skin deep and expects people to be a certain way. They put people into groups/categories based on this and are unwilling to believe any different. This is not the truth and it should not be seen as the truth. We are all individuals and completely unique from one another.

     Society will believe you will be friends with people depending on what social group you are put in. This is not always true. Just because you have some common characteristics within a group, does not mean you will get along with someone. Like I said, we are all unique, and there is no way of guessing who a person is.

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Should You Tip?

     What makes certain jobs more tip-able than other jobs? Why does society tell you a waitress at a restaurant deserves a tip, but the cashier at Wal-Mart doesn't? Why should you tip anyway?

     Waitresses make minimum wage just like cashiers do, and cashiers work just as hard as waitresses. So why is it fair that waitresses get tips? It's not just that waitresses get tipped, but we are expected to tip. If you do not tip you are seen as a bad customer.

     People can argue that they work hard to make their living and they deserve their tips. I do not think this is a good enough reason to make a tip. It is your job to work hard; it is what you are getting minimum wage for, so you do not need any extra money from customers on top of what you already make.

     I'm not saying tipping should be outlawed or anything. That would be silly. It just bothers me that you are expected to tip for no good reason. It is bad enough that we pay taxes on everything we buy, but now we have to pay an extra 12% of our meal in tips?

     I always feel the need to tip and most of the time the waitress does not deserve it. I think tips should be held and only given unless they do such a flawless job that you think they deserve the extra cash. Unless they go above and beyond their job standards, they should not get paid above and beyond their hourly pay.

     I recently came across this video, via a close friend of mine, and it emphasizes my point. (Warning: Foul Language and Inappropriate Content)

     I agree when he says "if she doesn't make enough money she can quit". If she thinks that she does not make enough money working minimum wage without tips, then she should find a different, better paying, job. I know this is not always possible. But he is right when he says that these ladies aren't starving, they are making enough money.

     I just do not feel the need to tip just because society says that some jobs are worthy of getting tips and that some are not. Everyone works hard, there are a lot of jobs for difficult than being a waitress, yet we do not tip these people. It is our money and it should go to whom and what deserves it. Sometimes that dollar tip would be better in my pocket than in the waitress's.

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Eating on the Run

     We are human, therefore we are busy. These just go hand-in-hand. So what if you are on the run and have no time to eat? Not a problem! There are so many places you can go to get a quick bite to eat. The only thing is, we sacrifice so much for speed.

     If you look at most of the fast food places out there, they aren't very healthy. Or healthy at all. There are donut shops, and burger places, but not many places to get healthy food fast. Society expects us to live healthy, be skinny, and still be able to run around and do everything in life.

     I think this is hardest when you are a student. Often you are in school full time, as well as working part-time, a lot of the time fast food is the best option. Unfortunately there are few places to get "good" food. There are Subways, and places like Pita Pit, but these are less accessible. There are McDonald's almost every other block in bigger cities, and there are few healthy places.

     Chances are, you are closer to a McDonald's than a Subway. So we eat what is most convenient. Society cares more about what is convenient, rather than what is actually good for their health. The obesity rate has been going up and up every year because of this.

     It is more convenient to eat out, but it is healthier to pack a lunch. A good way of avoiding take out, is making extra. If you know you are not going to have time to make breakfast in the morning, or make something for lunch, make something the night before and just keep it in the fridge. Or, if you are making dinner make a little extra and just take leftovers with you. It will be a lot cheaper and a lot better for you this way.

     We are too busy to eat healthy and too busy to work out. We need to find time in our lives to slow down and start caring about ourselves. I know that most people's lives are really busy, and making time for things like your own well-being is hard, but it something that needs to be done. Being successful is important, but it means nothing without your own health.

     Hopefully this blog will make you think twice about the next time you go to a fast food restaurant! There are better options out there, trust me. Don't waste your health. The food at fast food places don't even taste very good. It is honestly just a waste of money.

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The Meaning of Life

     There is a huge societal expectation that we are all born for a reason. We must do something in our life that will benefit the world around us, even if it is just a small accomplishment. There is no way you can live your life in all pleasure, at some point in life you must settle down and do something meaningful.

     I see nothing wrong with this assumption personally. I agree that everyone one day needs to settle down, and grow up. We can't be teenagers forever. There comes a time in your life when  you can no longer so partying every weekend. You have more important things to deal with.

     At the same time, I do not believe everyone needs to accomplish something huge in their life. Honestly, we are not born for some special divine reason. We exist simply because our parents chose to conceive us. I do not believe in destiny, and there is no one goal that our entire life lives up to. 

     We like to believe this as a society though. If we had no reason to live, then why would we be here? We need an excuse, some kind of reason for why things happen. I think that's the basis of most religions. God created us for a reason and we must live and find that reason for ourselves. But what if there is no reason? What if we are here purely by accident?

     I think a lot of people struggle with this concept. What is the point of life? Why bother live any more if there is no real meaning to life. I personally do not have this answer. I ask myself all the time "What is the meaning of life?". But there is no right or wrong answers. There are only theories. 

     What do you believe?

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Be Your Own Person

     You are supposed to be an individual; you are supposed to be different and unique in every way. But for god’s sack, do not think for yourself. That is wrong.

     We are special; each and every one of us is different than one another. There is at least one thing about you that makes you different than the person you are sitting beside. If this is a good thing, then why are we not allowed to speak our minds? Why aren't we allowed to have our own opinion and view on how things should be done?

     I go to school every day at the same time, and leave every day at the same time. I go to all of my classes; I listen to all of my teachers, and write down everything they say. If they tell me 1+2=3, I must believe them, because they told me so.

     But what if I want to believe that 1+2=4? Okay, so I'm pretty much dedicating this post to my philosophy teacher. He hates the idea of listening to teachers, all day, drone on and on. He has challenged my class many times to prove that 1+1=2, can you? I think philosophy should be a mandatory course in all schools. It is the only class that allows you to think instead of learn.

     Learning is important, yes. But thinking is equally important. We should be allowed to think for ourselves without being controlled by anything else.  Learning can only get us so far. You can learn everything you can know about the world so far, but then what? If we could not think, there is no way we could learn more.

     Do you think all Einstein did was listen? No. He spent a great deal of his time thinking, he used his own brain to deduce the world. Yes, he probably spent some time listening and learning as well, but he was still able to think for himself.

     Society does not want us to think for ourselves. But why is this? Because it is afraid we will disagree with some of what society believes. And if people start to disagree with society, all goes to hell. So it asks you to not question it, and just listen.

     Will you? 

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Personal Morals

     What are the forced morals of your society?

     In some countries it is completely against a culture’s morals to have an abortion. In our society, it is a justified act. There are many places you can go in North America to get an abortion. If you are under age, you don’t even need parent’s permission. It is completely your choice. Though, some people in our society disagree with abortion; it is still a very common occurrence in our society.

     But isn't it murder? Why is it in our society we can ignore our morals in certain cases? Again, society bends the rules in a way that is convenient for it. It doesn't matter if we believe that murder is wrong. We still justified mercy killing, and abortion. These things are okay, but cold blooded murder isn't  I honestly do not understand this.

     Some may argue that a fetus is not a living being and therefore it is not murder, but why is it up to you to say that something is or is not worth living? I do not think that anyone has the right to say who is worth killing and not.

     You can have an abortion up to three months into a pregnancy. At this point the fetus already looks like a human. It has arms and legs, and a head. It may be small, but it still has the characteristics of a human. Which brings us to ask, what makes us human? Is it our ability to think? Our ability to move?

     So someone that is disability, they do not have the ability to use their brain like we do. Does that mean they should just be killed off too? When someone is no longer able to think for themselves, are they nothing but an unwanted pet?

     We have the option to say they are not worth keeping around any more if they are unable to speak for themselves. But what if they want to live? How can we know what they want? This is what makes this subject so hard to talk about. We try to do our best for them, but it is hard to know what is best if you cannot talk to that person. We just have to follow our social morals. What would society say is okay to do?

     Now, I know this is a very controversial subject, and many people will disagree with what I am saying. I encourage you to disagree with me. I'm curious to how other people, in the same society as me, view these issues. 

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