Why We Do What We Do
Posted on April 16th, 2008 in Uncategorized
In The Things They Carried Tim thought about running. But he didn’t.
“I was a coward. I went to the war.”
He decided to go to Vietnam because he would be embarrassed if he ran. He didn’t want people to think less of him. Guilt is what made him go.
My uncle was almost drafted. I’m not sure of the specifics but there was something about his number that he knew for sure that he was going to be sent over so he joined an ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program at Western Michigan Univ. He figured, if he has to go, then he’ll start on top! (or at least a little closer to the top than the guy next to him.) He didn’t run. He embraced it. It could partly be since his older brother was in the Air Force, it couldn’t be too bad and he didn’t want to seem weak.
I never really realized how someone’s perception affects us. We all strive to make our parents proud or to impress someone. I honestly can say that maybe about half of my satisfaction from doing something is solely for me. The rest of it is divided up between parents, friends and coworkers. It may seem sad but it’s true.
Something else that seems to drive people is religion. The Catholics believe that doing works will get them to heaven. All views of Christianity “thank” God by using the gift that He gave them. People feel that they should honor the situation that they’re in by making the most of it.
There are a lot of people that are less fortunate that we are, maybe we should honor them by working really hard on our take home finals. The inopportune can be your motivation : )
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