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We all have someone in our lives that we feel we can turn to. We've all had those days, everyone seems to disagree with you, you feel like the whole world is against you. Naturally, you try to find someone to agree with you. If you look hard enough, you'll eventually find that person. For me, it was my grandmother. While her opinion seemed limited by her age, she was always the one who was there to comfort me. No matter what the situation was, she was there for me. When all my friends were mad at me, my family was annoyed by me, and no one else bothered to listen, she could always make me feel better.
About a year and three months ago, my grandma died. I was not devastated, she had lived a complete and honorable life. Her death was quick and without suffering. Of course, I was sad, as anyone would be, but I tried to look at the bright side. I acted like it was simply a minor change of schedule: instead of eating at her house each Sunday, we'd eat at ours. No big deal. But then it hit me. I hadn't adjusted, that person who was always there before was no longer there. I had no one to turn to! There was a void in my life, something was definitely absent, but this time, there was nothing I could do about. I cannot reverse death, what am I supposed to do?
To this day, that empty spot inside of me has not been entirely filled. Though I have gotten older, there are still ridiculous misunderstandings. I still have arguments with my parents, I still get mad at my friends, I still have things to bring me down. Now, however, I have to turn to someone else. Whoever it may be, it is a different person than my grandma -- my preference. I realize there is nothing I can do about it and feeling sorry for myself is not the way to solve a problem, I have to get my comfort from somewhere else, and that is what I've learned to do.
The reason why I share this experience is because you will go through something similar at one point in time. I've made the realization that many of my human experiences will come earlier than usual, earlier than they come for most people. I feel it my responsibility, as someone your age, someone going through the same trials as a teenager, to help you.
You will not always have someone there to comfort you. There won't always be someone to back your words up. As you become an adult, you will lose the support you once had as a child. Your parents will not always be there for you. Part of your responsibility as you grow older is to make decisions for yourself. Your own opinions will have to be developed. These take time! Your opinions will change over time and you will become wiser in your decisions. The person you are right now is not the person who you will forever be. Life is a continual process that will shape you out, not the other way around.
I say this because I think there is an underlying problem. A trend, if you will. We've all seen the wave of philosophical articles lately. Its becoming a bit of an annoyance to me. Don't get me wrong, there is little that I'd rather do than engage myself in a deep religious debate. It's a natural high for me, the arguing, the confusion, the limitations that we all have to overcome in order to make our argument heard. I love it! What I hate about it is the fact that it never ends. This can be both good and bad, but it's almost like all this energy we are putting into the same thing is being wasted. We probably will not ever come to an agreement, we probably won't even improve our argument. If anything, we're only damaging ourselves. Spreading tolerance and understanding? I don't think so. Come on guys, if you get one thing out of this, get this: you will not always be right. People won't always agree with you. Your reasoning will never end up the way you wanted it to, its just the way it is!
I'm sick of it. Everyone is acting like they have a principle to be taught. Forget theories and opinions, you're either right or wrong these days, it seems. This isn't the way its supposed to be! You cannot prove something is one way over another! If we all disagree in the end, what good does it do? If you think it makes sense or not, there will always be someone who disagrees. You may think you understand logic, but guess what, everyone else thinks they do too! What you learned in a class, what a book says, or what your parents say, it makes no difference! In the long run, there is always a theory that contradicts yours and there is nothing you can do about it.
Accept it. People are different. Different beliefs allow different principles. What is always correct and infallible to you does not always mean it is it is the same for someone else. Your beliefs will conflict with others' throughout your life. We could all use a trip back to grade 2 to learn the difference between fact and opinion. We know the difference, so why are we pretending facts are opinions and opinions are facts? Because we don't know! We can't always recognize the difference because there isn't always a correct answer available to us. Just accept that you might not know what is and what isn't, for once! It's okay if you might be wrong, just don't confirm to yourself that you're right!
In my article, "Why I believe," I tried to express my beliefs and explain my reasoning by sharing my opinion. I did not say "I'm right, you're wrong!" I may have gone over the top with incorporating facts, but I wish I hadn't. We could all use less "facts" in our articles and start using our brains. Just think for yourself. Try to write your thoughts down into the form of an article, not what someone else thinks. Not what a scientist, or a priest, or a parents thinks, what you think! This is the time of your life for you to start expressing your opinions and ease off the facts. For if you don't, you will never grow up.
So please, stop leaning on that significant individual to comfort you. Whoever or whatever it may be, try and use your own brain for once.
Thanks,
-ferrari5x
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