More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays about the meaning of life
Introduction to the meaning of life
Decision making essay on self reflection
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays about the meaning of life
Introduction
“I think. . .” is an excessively overused phrase. Until I started to write my opinions down, I thought I knew what I thought about most everything: God, organized religion, scientific theories, politics, social issues, war, and environmental concerns. After admitting I did not possess enough knowledge on any subject to voice a credible position, searching for the truth became my new mission. Furthermore, when faced with the dilemma of experiencing eternal bliss or eternal damnation upon death, the prospect of the latter became worthy of investigation.
One of the many conclusions I have reached is to listen to my inside voice and pay attention to those gentle, mysterious nudges forever trying to guide me in the right direction. After the try-anything-once years, I felt a sense of urgency; those nudges became robust shoves. What followed was an insightful, yet somewhat tumultuous, adventure: becoming aware of what makes me tick, exploring my affect on the world around me, realizing the effect of the world around me on me, and defining the beliefs I would choose to live b...
In my opinion, I have been through lots of obstacles. From one of my best friends dying to my grandmother passing, it’s hard. But I didn’t quit, I didn’t give up on life I moved on and lived for them. Purpose; be unique, not average. Growing up our biggest want is to fit in. The last thing we want to do is stand out. We should have a purpose in our life span. I want to make a difference wherever I can, and impact somebody in a massive way. Sacrifice; seek wealth not riches. A few things we sacrifice each day that go unnoticed are, Time, Money, Relationships, and health. All of those things we sacrifice leads up to us creating wealth. Not necessarily money, but having what we need to be successful. Use your wealth to change others. Even with money, don’t let it change you. I write all of this to say, I want to be the best me I can be. I constantly want to work on becoming a better version of myself. The goals I have set for myself aren’t what a normal person should believe. I am working on being unique and not average, but also keep a high quality of life and thought. If I practice these 7 keys throughout my journey, I will definitely see you all from the
So many people have ideas of things they want to do, whether they be business-related, something that scares them or even just asking someone else out on a date. Everyone has ideas about how they want to live their lives, but most people never wind up following through. They are so afraid of failure or of looking bad that they run from any kind of challenge. Then later in life, when they realize that they had all these opportunities and never took ad...
This was one of the main aspects that brought me to this crossroad that I am at now and that I faced at the beginning of my college career. When I decided to go to college I wanted to be a doctor, so that is how I started out. Looking at the challenges ahead of me on that path I did some research and decided to change paths and pursue a career in Health Services. In health services I can still help people the way I like and it also fits into my plan for myself. With what makes me myself I look at the crossroad I am at now and all I think to do is to keep moving forward and straight. Looking back is a different me and going left or right provides many new challenges, so forward is my only option. Even though I will run into many other crossroads and challenges on my current path, I feel the way I am put together I can overcome anything that comes my
Truth and idealism can lead individuals onto an enlightened path, however, with questionable ideals an individuals life can be persuaded inaccurately. In the Shakespearean Drama, Macbeth, the main characters experience misguidance from their own mislead ideals, which created significant disorder among themselves and the country of Scotland. Ambition combined with the unrighteous forces of Macbeth and Lady led them predominantly to deadly consequences. Macbeth and his wife are engrossed by the witches prophecies which directed them both to irrational thinking and absurd actions. These actions defined both characters throughout the play and impacted their demise tremendously. The ideals of the powerful couple, along with their overbearing ambition, lead their reality into an unconscionable future and their eventual death.
I will tell you about my childhood, going on hikes in the "woods" with my brother at a way too early age. Trying to climb trees and rocks, with all the broken bones to show for it. Not the brightest kid at this point, but what I loved was evident at quite an early age. Family and the Forest is what my life revolved around, and then the most influential thing in life threw a curveball. This pitcher was time. I aged along with everything around me, my brother left for college, I entered high school, and my parents had quite the amount of issues at home forcing me to seek solitary within anything that would keep me occupied. Life was meaningless, I fell into a depression that really made me question who I was, and this search came up as empty as searching for my name in google. But then I took a class called Environmental Sciences Honors, followed by Biology Honors, then Biology 2 Honors, then AP Biology, and also AP Language and Composition after I heard that transcendentalism was a large aspect of that
Think of life as a series of choices, one after another. If you are being truthful with yourself as you make your choices, then you are on the way to being self-actualized.
There are many ideas about the way things are suppose to be, they guide people in the way humans approach life and how people go about achieving our goals. Unfortunately people do not always accomplish these ideas they have for ourselves but the truth often times is what we really need. In the Shakespearean drama, Macbeth, he writes of a once cherished leader, Macbeth who is approached by supernatural being and acts out erratically to fulfill what prophesies he desires which lead to his eventual demise. Macbeth has difficulty perceiving idealism from the truth, in other words what he thinks should happen and what actually happens. The prophecies are the catalyst for his irrational thinking and from then on Macbeth becomes addicted to knowing what his future could be and taking it to the extreme of needing to create it then and there. Down this path he also has his wife Lady Macbeth who pushes him further to act on these prophecies to achieve the ultimate goal of the crown. She too has an obsession with doing whatever it takes to be Queen and have that authority to her name. These two characters take to the extreme what it means to need truth but desire their idealism and how this leads to their eventual demise.
Embarkation begins with a choice, and choice is a product of self-consciousness. We have been alive for so long, as has love and anger, resolve and obsession. With the million and one options that fight for our attention in a hyper-society like our own, reluctance can cost us everything. As a society, as a species, progress is our handle, the drive toward better and more hopeful situations is our enterprise. But the drive is also a specific one, localized and partitioned in every individual to find the next best condition. For senior preschoolers to senior graduate students to senior citizens transitioning into eternity, the origin of our motions are the same: the inescapable need to move on as where we are no longer suits us.
During this time, people will find themselves facing the task of self-discovery. Everything from what they believe in, what they want in life, to discovering who they are as a person (Santrock 2014). Technically, I am still in this stage. I remember facing many questions like where I wanted to go to school, what I wanted to study, and even questions on what kind of lifestyle I wanted to live. During the times these questions were usually asked, I was extremely insecure. I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere and that I wasn’t pretty enough. As I progressed through this stage I started to see what really made me happy and where I wanted to fit in with society. An increase of independence can lead to better interactions with schools, neighborhoods, and communities (Sokol 2009). I started to get involved with student senate, Dance Company, and community service during the earlier years of adolescents. I didn’t start out doing these things but I had to adapt and change to participating in things that didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. I have had more than one identity crisis; I went from being a total stoner, to partying/drinking every day, joining the Mormon religion, practicing Buddhism, and then to wanting to live in a van for the rest of my life. As I reach the end of this developmental stage, I have a sense of self. I have learned to respect others regardless of differing factors like religion. In Erikson’s theory of Psych-Social development, I successfully made it through this developmental period and gained the skills necessary to
Growing up, I was given the freedom to choose who I wanted to be, to decide what I wanted to do. I grew up with many different opportunities and chances to try out new things. A simple life I led as a child, sheltered and loved by all, but I was oblivious to reality, lost in my own “perfect” world. Yet as I grew up and began to surpass the age of imaginary worlds, the idea of “perfection” had begun to fade and reality began to settle in. Like a splash of cold water, I went from a childish mindset to an adult’s. Child hood play was a thing of the past and responsibility became the norm.
It was not too long before I discovered the faults in my erroneous living. I finally realized, and truly not a moment too soon, that if I did not start living for the present, my future would soon become my neglected present. I would have wasted my life doing meaningless things and I would have no experience to share with anyone who may be interested in the uneventful life I had led. After I came to this startling revelation, I grew even more apathetic in my depression. I truly felt that there was nothing I could do to remedy this situation and was at a total loss for solutions. Soon enough, though, I concluded that there was no alternative to hard work to change the current state of affairs in my life. It was then that I truly embarked on the most difficult journey of my life thus far. This being the journey of self-alteration and successfully changing my own behavioral patterns.
Spencer Johnson’s book, “Yes” or “No”; The Guide to Better Decisions gave a great perspective on how to make better decisions. By following the two-part journey to arrive at a better decision, any life choice can be effortlessly and hastily solved. From the choices we make more often like our attitude and health choices, to our deeper choices like our spiritual and relationship choices, simply analyzing what we need vs. what we want and asking ourselves a practical vs. personal question can save a lot of time in the long run by allowing you to completely ignore making the wrong decision and dealing with its consequences. Understanding the messages and principles given in this book can make the entire process a natural process and lead to making even a good decision maker, the best decision
What exactly is truth? What is true? These questions are two completely different questions. In order to answer what is true, you must first determine what truth actually is. If we look in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, we see the definition that says “The things that are true”. This is not what we are looking for in a definition of this word, but really there is no defining line between what is true, and what is not.
Motivated by a strong desire for knowledge and truth, you walk into Havergal College with a radiant smile at 8:00 a.m. “Ready to learn!” you exclaim with determination. Seeing the little red ticks in your math homework, you are pretty satisfied with your progress. But suddenly, the little red ticks merge into a huge question mark. Why is your answer true? After all, what is truth? The Oxford English Dictionary tells you that truth is something that conforms with fact or reality (“Truth”). Aha! Your answer is true since it matches the standard answer and is useful in everyday life! Yet, this narrow definition leaves out the most important implications of the word truth as a faith, a covenant, and a virtue.
My whole life I have lived with a single thought in the back of my mind, that thought haunted me sometimes and made me worry about who I might become as a person in the future. I always wondered what I was going to do with my life even when I was young. With the consistent pressure from my parents to work at a young age and to also keep up with my good grades, I began to develop a lot of stress. Through it all, I realized that enjoying time spending time with my friends and sitting on my latest console gaming all day was going to change.