A student that is failing a class because of his failure to study, a person receiving a ticket because of his failure to comply with the law, and a child receiving punishment for not abiding by his parents’ rules all face consequences for their actions. All three of those people, if asked, would say that “life is not fair”. The student could argue that the class was difficult; the person receiving a ticket could say the cop was a jerk; and the child could claim that his parents were strict. However, none of the three people would say that they’re at fault. Contrary to what many people say, I perceive life as fair in many ways and humans only make excuses for the aftereffect of the choices that they make.
According to psychological studies, a majority of humans will admit that life is unfair. However, they only think so when it pertains to their own dilemmas. For example, the student failing the class could rant and rave about how the teacher disliked him or how he wasn’t able to study because he had no time. A couple of weeks ago, his fellow classmates also went through the same situation, but it didn’t matter to him because their dilemma seemed insignificant, until the same event was personally experienced.
Often people agree with the statement “life is unfair” because we have biased perspectives. It’s a known fact that humans are self-centered. We place ourselves above anything or anyone else. Rarely do we take the time to concentrate on the problems or opinions of others or at least, to even see things from their point of view. The student could have said, “Oh I should’ve studied more,” but did not.
Now there are exceptions to the whole “Life Isn’t Fair” theory. I’m not ruling those out at all. Let’s take natural disasters for example. We can’t do anything about incidents such as Hurricane Katrina or the 1960 Chilean Tsunami because we have no control over these events. Life was not fair to these victims because they were granted no choice. On the flip hand, it amazes me to hear and see how much people will dispute, cry, scream, stress, and say that life is not fair, when it’s their own decisions that are to blame. If you don’t want a ticket, don’t speed. If you want a good grade, then study. But don’t make bad decisions and blame life for it.
Maybe that’s the whole reason why the cliché “life isn’t fair” is so overused. Deep inside, we don’t want to believe that we’re at fault. We would rather blame it on a stray dog then to take responsibility for our actions. Humans were raised in believing that life is some sort of mystical being that can create havoc and destruction on earth; it’s definitely referred to in that manner constantly. However, the values, judgments, and decisions of a person shape his or her life.