Aftershock

Fear- it’s a strange emotion. Recently, due to some unfortunate events, my friends and I went through a period of fear and doubt. Eventually, things went back to normal, rather, a whole new level of normal. Somehow, it seemed as though my friends and I were more bonded as a whole, and even though separations after school had resulted in being in separate cliques, I found that we were there for each other much more than we had been- even when we were together in school. My point here is this- Can emotions control the way we behave to such an extent? And if so, an emotion like fear, considered ‘negative’ actually result in something positive?

Emotions definitely determine a lot of the relationships we have with people. We act in a certain way depending on how we feel around a person, and our level of comfort with them. I personally, don’t think that emotions are the sole factor that one’s identity is based upon, although they do have a major role to play in the way an individual leads his life, his choices and their outcomes. After thinking about ‘negative’ emotions, like fear, and anger, I realized something. These emotions, if channeled correctly, do not necessarily have a negative impact on an individual and their surroundings. In fact, I would go as far to say that fear, in itself, is one of the few common factors that successfully unites people all over the world. It is a common emotion through various cultures, and can get people to act instantly, where a lot of other prompts might not. A basic example is the formation of the United Nations Organization. This was formed after world war 2- why? Simply because countries were so scared of another war and its implications. Here we see how countries with totally different ideals came together due to “fear” and channeled it in a positive way. Anger too, has proven to be the cause of outstanding performances in the fields of sports, pushing sportsmen to a limit they could not achieve otherwise. I’ve seen paintings, and poems, and beautiful ones at that, all painted and written in a state of anger.

Obviously, I’m not saying that it is necessary to be a victim of these extreme emotions to produce something of worth. However, I question the close minded view that these emotions are simply harmful to one’s being. Maybe this is me just being highly optimistic, but personally I feel that the aftermath of these emotions often result in something greater, like a strengthened friendship, that we might not have even experienced otherwise.

Hiddens

Today, I ended up talking to someone about self-deception. It started off as a simple conversation, about how we would work a lot over winter break, and try and finish all our assignments. We soon realized that we wouldn’t even get half as much as we had planned to do finished, and we were simply trying to make ourselves feel as though we would. Come to think of it, this could be simple procrastination- by claiming to finish everything over the holidays; we wouldn’t have to do it now. But where does this actually come from?

Logically, it seems so stupid to set up an agenda, you know deep down that you won’t mange to complete, and then be disappointed when you don’t complete it. And we do this in the simplest, most everyday things. It is often found that people make themselves believe something, convincing themselves it’s true to such an extent that they have completely forgotten that they initially lied to themselves. What I was wondering, was that is this ‘deception’ towards oneself really negative? Or could it have positive results too? For instance: a person sets out a goal for himself that he does not think he is capable of. He then convinces himself that he will manage to accomplish this goal. Believing this, he does not lose faith in himself, thinking he is worthless, but instead strives to achieve this goal as he believes he one day will. Surely this cannot be negative. Although, looking at it from a moral perspective, it certainly is bad to lie to oneself about certain things. People say that if one is continually lying to themselves, or “cheating themselves”, the end product will simply end up hurting and disappointing they themselves.

Both these being valid points- I don’t think there can quite be a distinguishing line stating that it is okay to lie to oneself in certain situations, if the lie motivated you, but not okay to lie in other situations which could be potentially harmful. To a certain level, self-motivation, even if a little exaggerated is certainly helpful, however, it cannot be pushed to a level of absolute untruth.

Note: This is based a lot on the assumption that “lying” in itself is bad.

Apps Schnapps

With US college applications just around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about why it’s so important to get into one of the top colleges in the states. Logically, most colleges in the US would provide one with a good education, especially at an undergraduate level. Still, I see people all around me applying to almost the same 8 colleges, all of which are ranked as the best. Obviously, I see the point in trying to get to one of the best if such a lot of money if being spent to go abroad, but looking deeper, I wonder whether some people just apply to these colleges because they are forced to by society around them- a society which indirectly states that getting into only these places of prestige is what determines success.

I see the underlying competition, the signs of disappointment when one finds out that someone with a higher predicted grade is applying to the same college, the insane stress levels and the doubt of a final acceptance. At the end of it all, I’m wondering, what is it that makes these colleges top-ranked anyway? How is it that one defines which educational institution is better? Even after establishing a constant way of judging the above, what makes us as students want to get into these so called top colleges?

I feel as though it is not just a self-motivated goal, but also a part of ourselves that needs to prove to everyone else that we are capable of going somewhere great. The name matters to us, as it makes us feel better and more accomplished and in a way superior to other people. I realize that these reasons make us sound like shallow human beings, however, I fell it is quite apt at this time especially to point out that a lot of our college applications are based on insecurities about ourselves.