I DON'T WANT TO BE A VEGETABLE

"You are what you eat."


I never understood this quote... Why would I want to become what I eat? Furthermore, I would rather be a lollipop than a leaf of spinach! So why do people even say this? I just don't get it! Why would I want to eat my vegetables if I am going to become one? I DON'T WANT TO BE A VEGETABLE.

I like this better:

"You are what you experience."


Yeah, that's better. I think that this is an important point for everyone to understand. People are unique. Everyone is different. But why?


Because everyone lives a different life.


In my opinion, adults are completely shaped by the way they grew up and the experiences they had. In childhood, people learn to be friendly and sociable. People who never learn this crucial skill may turn out socially inept as an adult. In adolescence, people grow into their adult selves. Their experiences and the people they meet during this stage of development shape them into who they become later in life. I think that this is really important for everyone to understand... People are different. Not everyone will be just like you, not everyone will understand what you feel, and you won't understand what everyone else feels either. As a person, you can only try your best to grasp the concept of all of the other people in the world. These are people who you will never understand fully, because they are not you. Like you, they have their own complex lives and ways of thinking. Like you, they have secrets and hidden pasts. Like you, they long for things. Like you, they have feelings. It's a hard concept to understand, sometimes.

I think that it's hard to think past your own self, because you are in fact shaped by your experiences in life. If you haven't lost a parent, for example, you can never understand what it's like for someone else who lost one. Even if you have lost a parent, you still won't fully understand because everyone's experiences are different in some way, just as every person is different in many intricate ways.

Sometimes, I look at people and think, "Wow." That person walking down the street, they have a name. They have a life. They have a story. Like you, like me, like all of the other 6 billion-something people on Earth. It's kind of a humbling thought. Sometimes I long to get inside someone else's mind, if just for a moment, to experience being someone other than myself. Being myself is all I have ever known, and I honestly have trouble comprehending being anyone else. Sometimes, it feels like I am the main character in the story, and everyone else is just along for the ride. I don't mean to sound self-centered, but I think it's human nature. I think that everyone else on the planet feels the same exact way... How can all of these people have stories as complex as my own? But they do. Everyone has their own dreams, their own thoughts, their own lives and experiences. And that's the magic of it all...

People are people, no matter what. Who they are on the outside is luck of the draw, and it's not fair to judge them based on the way they were born. The important thing is the person they are on the inside... The person they chose to become. Now, you may say that this contradicts everything I've said so far. I said that people are shaped by experiences, not by themselves. I think that both are true. People can interpret an experience any way they choose to. If I am in a terrible car accident tomorrow, I can either choose to live my life in misery and regrets or I can choose to teach others about the dangers of reckless driving. I could become a doctor to save other peoples' lives. I could learn from my mistakes and become a better person. I could also fall into depression. I could act out in fits of aggression. I could get revenge. Everyone's approach will be different. I think that a person is shaped by experiences and the way they react to them. You can't necessarily choose your experiences (though you can influence them sometimes), but you can always choose how you react.

This is the point. You decide the person you will turn out to be. You decide who you are.

"You are who you choose to be."


This is one of my main philosophies about life... I am a secular humanist, which means that I think that humans should depend on themselves for change and not rely on any greater power.

As Ghandi once said,

"Be the change you want to see in the world."


Well, I hope you got something out of this... The most important thing about me, perhaps, is that I am a thinker. Sometimes I sit and think about the world for hours on end... That's just me. Thanks for listening to my (perhaps bizarre) mind.

xx Curiosity Kills. So do WARS. Peace & Love, people.