Javon
November 13, 2007
TIB Essay
This I Believe
I believe in living life to the fullest. Life is a delicate state, one wrong move can be the decision between life and death, but no moves at all is dishonor to the precious gift. I am making sure to pilot my own life accordingly because I only have one chance for what I know.
I use my opportunities to fulfill my belief because it is a part of whom I am and how I believe life should be led. Sometimes living to the fullest requires me to make decisions that are tough to depict and incorrect. I use these situations to carry out my belief. My life is about learning, teaching, and executing. Throughout my past 14 years, I have learned many things right and wrong alike. I have been grounded for sneaking out, but also awarded for calling and checking in. My brother has begun to learn of my ways and sees how to satisfy our parents, yet still doing what he wants.
I go out, each day, planning to face and conquer anything that crosses path, whether or not it is the right decision. Some might say I am a rebel for acting against the ‘good’ route of life. I believe I am living the ‘good’ life. I think that there are two main types of people. As probably guessed, one is a do-gooder all the time and one misbehaves and acts against the rules. I do, however, believe in limitations. I don’t think killing other people or causing mass suffering is a good choice for living the ‘good’ life, but I think acting against your parents or skipping homework maybe is okay. Without these kinds of experiences you are shaped into the two common types of people. I want to be different; I want to be a mixture of these personalities. I want to be someone others look up to as a role model who coined “excellence with flaws.”
Part of my day to day life is making mistakes and learning from them. I know that making stupid decisions is something we want to avoid, but I think it is a necessity that everyone needs to experience every once in a while. Sure, I could go through life listening to my relatives, my teachers, my coaches, etc. and not gamble, or drink alcohol, or stay up really late like they say… but that’s not what I want to do. That’s not living your life to the fullest, that is letting someone else live it for you. I want to go out and experience each and every one of those things the right people tell me not to do, to know for myself whether or not I should have done it. Don’t be like everyone else. I say when life hands you lemons, toss them out, go buy your own lemons, and make lemonade.