At this point in our lives--these almost post-teenage years--I'd like to think we have it all figured out. Maybe not our exact careers or dream house or future partner but we hopefully have some idea of where we'd like to see ourselves 5, 10, maybe even 20 years down the road. Right now, we at least have direction in our lives.
But besides planning our futures, we've also been established by our past. By now, we've developed a sense of ideals, values, and beliefs. We've been shaped by our parents, friends, life experiences, and most importantly, had a chance to explore for ourselves.
Ironically, this sense of self-achievement is quite a naïve perspective. We're not quite as malleable as we were in our middle school/pre-teenish years...remember how awkward that was?
Ooh let's not revisit that, shall we?
But for those of us that did managed to survive that segment of our lives without too many scars, we have emerged with a stronger sense of self. And with every passing year that we've confirmed our identity, we become more and more confident in it. Accompanied with this confidence, is a stubbornness that also increases with each subsequent year. We become more resilient to change and opposing ideas since we've believed in our own for so long. Sometimes only a significant event or an epiphany is sufficient to alter our perspectives once they've been ingrained into our subconscious.
At the moment, however, we're still young enough to remain open-minded. We are just entering a critical stage in our lives that has the capability to close us off to the suggestion of change a few more years into our future.
Why change though? If we've been comfortable enough with our own beliefs until now, what would make us think otherwise?
As an example... until recently, I've more or less accepted the fact that what is illegal is bad. Just labeling something as illegal is enough to create a stigma regardless of whether or not we consider it morally inappropriate. There are reasons it has been made illegal and we've been conditioned to avoid it so I've never really stopped and reconsidered. But when challenged about my so called "beliefs" in a specific aspect, I stumbled and seemed to lose footing in a reliance I've maintained for years. It's discomforting and disheartening and can be likened to losing faith in a religion. But like religion, many matters are not clear cut or set in stone. We may encounter multiple philosophies throughout our lifetime and zero confirmations. We may never alter one dogma no matter the circumstance and modify another on the slightest whim. We ultimately shape our own thinking but it's a continuous work in progress.
