Some More Inspiration

The following is a long comment I made in reply to a recent poll by . Basically, the question was about which values were most important to me, including love, kindness, living life to the fullest, etc. The poll is here: aozorastage.deviantart.com/jou… However, this really inspired some though in me, and while I may not be able to convey fully all the thoughts I have, I thought this deserved more explanation than a simple vote. So here is my reply:


That is quite a difficult question... I could answer for each, and ultimately, I believe they are all connected.

Love: Honestly, without it, I would not be who I am. Love in all forms, whether through family or friends or romance, is a building experience and a term that cannot quite be defined.

Happiness: I believe this is a lifelong endeavor. I believe we can find/make our own happiness, and that this heavily depends on our personal attitudes.

Friendship: I believe that this one is important because it offers the validation we find with our peers, something we seem to need that we seem not to accept from our families. In some ways, it offers that feeling of acceptance and belonging.

Kindness: Of course! Without kindness, the world and our personal traits would go downhill. I think we have already seen what kindness can do, and what a lack of kindness can cause. The lack can erode other values, such as courtesy, compassion, friendship, and love.

Having Fun: As President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured." I fully believe this! We were not created solely to play, or solely to work. We were created to act, not to be acted upon. In these ways, I might say work hard, and then play hard! Work hard while I'm young, so that when I'm older, I can enjoy the rewards my earlier work had sown.

Living life to the fullest: Ideas such as YOLO and Carpe Diem can be taken in both a harmful way, and in a positive way. I prefer to see it, not as doing all the things that I feel I ought not to be doing, but rather, as a challenge. If I only live one life, then what do I plan to do with it? For instance, what would drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, partying all night, or fully indulging myself in whatever I wanted do for me? It would create a selfish and prideful person, in my opinion. Rather, I want to stay away from that. In this case, I say that a person's perspective determines what this phrase means. For me, I see it as meaning that I only have a limited time to make my mark on the world, to leave it better than I found it. In this way, I feel that living life to the fullest means living a life for others, dedicated to service, care, compassion, courtesy, respect, and all of the other values that seem to be disappearing rapidly in today's society.

Being true to yourself: This one. Like YOLO, I believe this can mean something different to every person, and it is because every person IS different. Each individual is given talents, perspectives, ideas, and an entire life that is unlike any other before or after it. No matter what, no one person has exactly the same ideas, thoughts, feelings, or trials. For me, being true to myself means being true to a better nature and always believing that I can improve from where I am now. Being true to myself means being to true to the fact that, while I may never achieve perfection in this life, I must always encourage growth. I can ALWAYS improve, but it is not a bad thing to congratulate myself for an achievement every once in a while. However, if I become complacent, and start believing that those achievements are "enough", then I will lose sight of what it means to continue to learn, to grow, and TO ACT.

I really could go on further about this, but I feel I've already rambled enough... But yes, I believe each of these principles, and any others not mentioned, are all connected. I believe that I was created to act, not to be acted upon. I was created to live in forward motion, not standing still.

I am still working at it, really, but I know that while I have to have the drives, the purpose, and the desires, it really is a two-way street.