Criticizing the "Norms" of Society

Humans are truly fascinating animals. Unlike almost any other animal of our kind, humans are born with essentially no knowledge of the world and without the ability to take care of themselves in any way. The factor that makes humans so interesting is that we learn almost everything we know from the world around us. That being said, humans are extremely malleable, but this malleability lends itself to the possibly of "molding" people to have unswayable ideas which many times blocks the ability for society to progress and better the lives of the people living in it. 

I see the inability to get past certain ideas that have been so deeply rooted into society all the time and I would be hypocritical if I didn't say that I see it in myself as well. Coming from an American, white, middle-class family, there are many privileged ideas that I have that are the result of my environment and my family. In thinking about many of these ideas, it had never really occurred to me, and still doesn't at times, that not all of these ideas and norms are necessarily correct or true in any form. After looking through the same lens for 18 years, it honestly is hard to see and understand things from other perspectives, however without criticizing or maybe even just taking the time to understand the things that we have just began to consider "normal" in our society. 

I think its important to think critically about these norms because the way we do things is not necessarily going to be the way that others would do the exact same things. Take for example, capitalism. The United States has had a capitalist economic system since it's independence from Great Britain and honestly, since then, not many things have changed. My parents raised me to believe that the United States was the best country in the world. The only country with complete independence. Not until last year, did I take a moment to think about these broad statements that I found completely engrained in my brain. The thing is, looking from an economic standpoint, yes, the US is pretty well off, however have we ever taken a moment to think just about the quality of life in the United States in comparison to other parts of the world? The answer is no, and the reason is that we as humans don't always naturally question the things that we have been taught growing up, we consider them facts. So after I began to think about this complete "independence" that my parents had always assured me that I had, just based on the fact that we live in the United States, I began to think about some of the effects on society that capitalist systems can present. With such a high focus on the economy, many times we completely forget about social and environmental issues that are also important factors that determine our quality of life. So is the US still the best country in the world if we often times forget 2 important factors that affect our lives in such large ways? Maybe, maybe not, but the great part is that its an opinion and NOT a fact, so you get to decide.

The point here is that not everything we hear and see everyday in our environments is necessarily the best, most productive, or most satisfying way to do things. To really move forward in society we need to find the root to the basic issues that we find ourselves having everyday. So be progressive and think outside the box because progressive people are the people that will keep our country and possibly the world afloat. 

The Life Decision Blues

Recently I have been completely fixated in an inner battle of what I want to be for the rest of my life. I have always wanted to be a doctor, honestly it has to be one of my very first memories. It has become part of my identity. I have always been quite a nurturing person, which I think lends right to such an occupation. So it makes sense that as I have begun to question following my life long dream, I have had many problems making any type of decisions about my future.

In the consideration of many other occupations, I have begun to feel almost as if I am drowning. I am drowning in a world full of opportunities and from bird's eye view, that seems like quite a nice problem to have, however it from my point of view it seems as though the walls are closing in on me and I am left wallowing in all of these crazy decisions that will affect the rest of my life. Normally, I feel as though I accept defeat well. I know and can accept my weaknesses and I am quick to get over those types of things typically. However, I am quite literally stuck on this and so I have to assume that the world in which I have grown up in has something to do with my figurative state of mind.

The thing is, no one ever told me that I should be a doctor. I was never attracted to the idea with visions of money. There was just always something in me that was so attracted to the medical field. As a child, most of my punishments had some correlation with being caught watching surgery on the discovery life channel. Which is quite the opposite of what one would expect from a young child. However, in recent years I have begun to doubt my life long dream. Maybe its the intense amount of work that has scared me away or the intensity of the student body or just the intensity of it all in general (I don't work well with intensity). However, should I really give up something that is so tied to my identity just out of fear? I really am not sure. I do know one thing. I find this to be such a big dilemma because I never want to be disappointed in myself in the future. I don't want to look back and look at my accomplishments as failures. I don't want to fall into some rogue job that will never fulfill my search for happiness and most of all I don't want to change the dreams in which my entire identity has been built upon.

So I want to leave this post open. I hope that this prompts you all to look deep within yourselves and find closure in similar choices. I think a huge component of our individual happiness is living life in the moment as opposed to the future. So should I leave these choices to the universe with the hope that everything will turn out alright in the end? Or should I focus on the future and focus on making the right choices today in order to ensure myself happiness in the future? I'll leave this question up to you. What would you do?