It's Your Decision
William Shakespeare said it best, "To thine own self be true." What this means to me is that we must each walk our own path and we must each make our own decisions in life. Just like a flame in a fire, create your own destiny, dance your own dance, be your own self.
So many times in this world people make decisions based on the truth of others. This is shown on every level from what you choose to eat to how our nations get along with one another.
I have an aunt who didn't like peas or beans and at her house, she never ate or served those vegetables. Interestingly enough none of her children like peas or beans either. Do they not like these vegetables because they tried them and truly think they are awful or did they just take the experience of their mother and make it their own?
A General tells his soldier that the other nation is their enemy. The soldier goes into battle and kills the soldier of the other nation. Was that person who died truly an enemy of our nation? It's certainly possible, but he was also most certainly a son, a nephew, a friend. He was possibly a husband, a father, an uncle. The point is we will never know what sort of person that dead soldier was. Someone else labeled that man and he has been killed by a complete stranger.
You know, a person murders their spouse and they are hated on by the world. They are a murderer, sentenced to rot in prision. A soldier kills a stranger and they are a hero. They come home and get a medal. I'm not saying that the person who murdered his spouse is someone we want walking on the street, and I'm not saying the soldier should be locked up, but I am saying that one person made their decision out of their own experiences and the other made their decision out of the experiences of others.
It is my goal to live up to the ideal Shakespear has presented us. Live my own life, walk my own path, and make each decision based on my own experience, not the experience of another. To thine OWN self be true.
So many times in this world people make decisions based on the truth of others. This is shown on every level from what you choose to eat to how our nations get along with one another.
I have an aunt who didn't like peas or beans and at her house, she never ate or served those vegetables. Interestingly enough none of her children like peas or beans either. Do they not like these vegetables because they tried them and truly think they are awful or did they just take the experience of their mother and make it their own?
A General tells his soldier that the other nation is their enemy. The soldier goes into battle and kills the soldier of the other nation. Was that person who died truly an enemy of our nation? It's certainly possible, but he was also most certainly a son, a nephew, a friend. He was possibly a husband, a father, an uncle. The point is we will never know what sort of person that dead soldier was. Someone else labeled that man and he has been killed by a complete stranger.
You know, a person murders their spouse and they are hated on by the world. They are a murderer, sentenced to rot in prision. A soldier kills a stranger and they are a hero. They come home and get a medal. I'm not saying that the person who murdered his spouse is someone we want walking on the street, and I'm not saying the soldier should be locked up, but I am saying that one person made their decision out of their own experiences and the other made their decision out of the experiences of others.
It is my goal to live up to the ideal Shakespear has presented us. Live my own life, walk my own path, and make each decision based on my own experience, not the experience of another. To thine OWN self be true.
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