Life Is What You Make Of It
04/11/2011
by
Joseph
This weekend I watched an action comedy about two guys who started life under the same perilous conditions but found themselves leading drastically distinct -albeit intricately connected- lives. One guy became a superhero and the other became a supervillain.
The "hero" aggressively manipulated circumstances so they would play out in his favor. His deeds caused problems for the main character who took it all to mean that he was meant for a life of villainy.
Through the course of the movie, the "hero" and the "villain" discovered their true character and set out to make their own destiny. Both of them learned that it was more important to do what they felt was right than to merely do what was expected of them.
The movie plot presented a timeless theme, one which most of us will confront at some point in our lives.
What's Wrong With Doing What Is Expected Of Us?
Humans are social organisms, as a species we tend to value and even thrive on the praise and adoration of others. Many of us have also become conditioned to conform to certain roles, taking them on because we either think that we can't do better or that it is what others expect us to do.
Millions of men and women toil at jobs that they don't enjoy, socialize with people whom they dislike, take on bad habits, or wait for the next best thing to come along. People who exist for the sake of others often feel controlled by "fate", although unhappy with their station they lack the confidence and drive to do anything about it.
They spend their days going through the motions, never truly happy, only to die wondering what went wrong with everything. They waste their lives because they forget a very important fact.
Life Is What You Make Of It
Whether for good or bad, we make our own destiny. That's not to say that we may not come under the influence of others, in fact most people choose to let others control their destiny. Through their own free will they give up their right to do what is best for them.
In the movie, the "hero" used his powers to gain popularity, but when the "villain" tried to use his talents for the same ends, he failed. And thereby convinced himself that he was best suited to the role of bad guy and thus embarked on a life of crime.
This happens to a lot of people - when their plans fall apart they give up hope and conform to the whims and ideals of others e.g. take a dead end job, become overweight and unhealthy, become a shut in, etc.
The thing is, regardless of how things may seem, we do what is most comfortable for us. People who are comfortable doing what others want take the easy route and accept things as they are. They do a cost/benefit analysis of life and choose the easiest, least painful path.
Yet the path that they have chosen is a trap, eventually these people become terribly unhappy and they waste away little by little every single day.
By contrast, the people who want a better life take risks. They don't choose the easy path, they don't accept that their destiny is controlled by others. Instead of simply taking things as they are, they study harder, listen more attentively and look for opportunities. And if opportunities don't present, these people make their own.
I found it very interesting that the bad guy kept failing at being a bad guy but triumphed when he took on his true role. Perhaps it was because his heart wasn't in it. He couldn't truly conform to what others wanted so he was unable to fulfill their wishes.
We can never really succeed if we try to please other people. We have to do for ourselves. When we take the easy path, things fall apart. But that which is hard won endures. When we give it our all, it is because we want it so badly that we're willing to do whatever it takes to get it (so long as it is honorable and just).
The folks who sleep walk through everything, applying half-hearted effort to life's challenges have chosen to give up. Either way, life is what we make of it.
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"Life Is What You Make Of It" copyright 2011 Living Fit, Healthy and Happy(SM). All Rights Reserved.
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