Goi Peace Foundation: Final Essay

Peer Evaluation on Draft 1:

Essay:

“It’s easy to feel like you’re not in control of your life. That’s because you’re not. You can’t stop things happening. You just have to deal with them when they do.” (End of the F…ing World, 2017). We are constantly reacting to events in our life through our opinions on what we perceive. These opinions have been built by our experiences, significantly our childhood (since this was a period of learning) and can be represented as religious beliefs, morals, and our views on (coincidently) life. The reaction between events and our opinions creates feeling. Without feeling, we aren’t ‘living’.

Even before we are born, our environment has societal norms that communities expect us to follow, giving us limited control over our lives. For instance, many Western and European countries have strong capitalist interests which are pushed through the mentality of, ‘climbing the corporate ladder. With life goals such as attending university, having high paying jobs, providing for a family, marriage and buying a home. Living in a space that perceives money and success as equivalent pushes a specific narrative. In a similar manner, people born in communities that prioritise agriculture and rural practices, are conditioned to strongly consider such practices in their future because of their strong influence on their upbringing. We have an intrinsic motivation to socialize and feel accepted which influences the manner we present ourselves. In other words, we serve our community and comply with societal norms to feel safe. Moreover, the same concept applies to morals within a society; human behaviour is cultivated precariously. This is observed as specific gestures are significant in countries. From bowing in the East to high fiving in the West. This reflects in subjects like racism, sexism, and homophobia as the human conditioning of past knowledge still controls today’s modern individuals. Are we all completely doomed to blindly trust our opinions formed by the community we were raised in? With tools like social media, technology, and education we are now able to practice globalisation. Globalisation allows countries to be interdependent, aiding in the construction of growth mindsets. Overall, the overwhelming pressure societies impose, though they limit our control, depend on us like a parasite needs a host.

Using our opinions and skills, we have the freedom of choice despite laws, government regimes, or societal norms. We can choose to react differently to the environment we are placed in. For instance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an infamous background where his family was economically insufficient. He worked selling tea in a local railway station in Gujrat, India (where he was born). Though his environment enforced a career in the service industry, he was able to build political power by reacting differently to the resources he was given. Though humans lack control over their external environment, they are able to change their internal space, ergo changing their reaction. The observation that humans are merely reactors to their environment has been studied for decades and is reflected through the ‘law of attraction, karma, philosophy, and religion where people believe that practising positivity leads to a desired, positive outcome.

In conclusion, life isn’t a fair system where all people are given equal opportunity to grow. It depends entirely on your experiences, as this teaches us how to react, and your present, the stimulus. People must find different definitions for ‘success’; that is adapt to their situations, to be truly happy.