What keeps us alive? What keeps me alive? I have been wondering about this emotion, this faith, this intuition. for quite a while now. It’s never occurred to me that I would be courageous enough to write about something so paradoxical, with such immense value of knowledge, written based on my gut feelings.
So what keeps us alive? Is it the fear of death ? People used to say that fear of death is the most powerful inputs of the spirit in order to keep one person alive. Yet, I think there’s more to it than it appears. When Batman jumped off the rock without the rock trying to catch the other rock midair, it demonstrated that the fear of death is one input, but not all of it.
I believe a combination of factors is what keeps us alive : Environment, fear of death, and our mental state is what keeps us alive. Environment is important because it teaches you the art of survival. Some people are born in different social classes and that is ok, but each class has competition. Like Charles Darwin said, it’s survival of the fittest. This is reality, the weak is cut from the world like a weak player being cut from varsity basketball team, and is left to either get stronger or stay down as a failure. That is where mental state comes in.
Mental states is a result of your environment. When people used to say that the environment can either make or break you, it’s up to your mentality as to become whichever one you prefer. The weak can choose to be stronger by putting in the effort, or stay as a failure wishing everyday to be as good as the strong ones without effort. Lebron James said “In NorthEast Ohio, Nothing is given, everything is earned”. With this quote, the implication is clear. The environment does create a mental state. But why fear of death?
Video made by Kenan Tahirovich on Youtube
Personally, I think the fear of death puts an incentive upon each and everyone of us individuals to live each day as if it was my, yours, his, her, or their last. It’s a result of developing a stronger mental state where you choose to create that will, that faith, that intuition, the ultimate location where your strength and will to succeed is derived from. During the “Dark Knight Rises” movie, a defeated batman had to become so fearful of death, that it put a big incentive upon himself that no matter fail or success, he’s willing to die to get back and protect the city he loved. The message is clear, are you going to stay down there like the weak, or are you going to use the fear of death as an incentive to motivate yourself, and push yourself to a new height each day? That’s your life, not mine.
My life has been a tribulation. I’ve been bullied before, I’ve been weak, I’ve been an outcast to the point where I wanted to commit suicide. I have been the weak where Darwin said the ones that will be kicked out by society. Even my grades kind of portray that. I guess this turned from philosophical to motivational, but whatever. Don’t expect a 17 years old to write a War and Peace book. Anyways, my point is that I’ve developed the toughness from my surrounding to keep me alive today. People said what suffering would I endure as to some kid being raised in a upper middle class family with great parenting and great support from friends? Well, here’s the truth.
Imagine your friends having more athletic ability than you, smarter than you, and they attempt to pick on you because your symbol of knowledge is a B instead of an A. Yeah, that’s kind of the pressure I’m feeling daily. Imagine your friends talk about straight As in front of your face and you being there as a person who has a mixture of letters? If that’s not survival of the fittest I don’t know what is, I’m on the weak side here I speak the truth.
If you think that’s all I’ve gone through I’ve got more. I’ve been thru surgery twice. Twice I felt like the end of the world because of the pain and the changes I had to endure for months. I had a surgery dealing with my lung and one with my adenoid. Both of them are extremely painful in the aftermath that no patient talks about. Survival of the fittest huh? I’ve experienced the fear of death to where it pushed me to stay alive. Small surgery, big for me since I was only 13 and 15 when it happened.
Believe me, as stupid as this sounds. I was once called “frog” because my face did not fit the environment’s preference. People say be yourself, but it’s hard. Yeah you know it, bullying. I’ve been bullied to the point where I wanted to quit school and life. The fear of death I think is what keeps me going, because I was so close to killing myself I know now to live each day as if it were my last. Environment created my mental state of becoming successful, one tough journey it was. I’ve gone through it, and now I guess I’m writing this post to share my feelings in my personal space…
I guess to sum this up. What exactly keeps me alive? I suppose the incentive to live each day as if it were my last, and the fact my environment is shaping me into a person I am today. I fear death, I fear my grades would collapse and my environment would turn me into an outcast. I fear that I would fail my friends, families, and close buddies and turn into one of kids who cracks under pressure. But, I still keep going, why? Because I know the light will come, I know one day I will reach a new height no one else can. I’ve experienced a low point in my life, but now my environment is shaping me into turning my mental state into a ever powerful state of mind. That’s what’s keeping me alive, my environment, my mental state, and my constant fear of death and failure.
MrHPotterPresents2. YouTube, YouTube, 20 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjffIi2Pl7M.