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Austin Paulenske
English 1020
Professor Layton
10, Feb. 2012
Word Count: 1,230
The Meaning of Life
Being the risk taking individual that I am, countless times I have found myself lying
broken in a hospital bed. The amount of injuries that my body has withstood is almost
unbelievable. Some of the more serious injuries include: three fractures of the skull, two
concussions, a compound fracture in the tibia and fibula, a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate
Ligament) and a shattered elbow. Most of my injuries have resulted from high risk sports. I am a
firm believer in the saying if you arent falling, you arent trying hard enough. The risk of
injury has a lot to do with commitment and dedication, strong traits of an athlete. When youre
in and out of the hospital as much as I am, you really start to be grateful to be alive. With several
close encounters with death, out of natural curiosity I cant help but wonder, what does it mean
to be a member of the human race?
You may think someone who is constantly reckless and inattentive may being asking for
a death wish, but really its just the opposite. The valuing of ones life is essential in order to be a
member of the human race. From an extreme sport enthusiasts point of view, life is what you
make it. One who truly values their life would make the most of it, even if it means taking risks
of injury. It is important to understand that in order to grow as a person, chances must be taken.
Working out of the comfort zone is a task that not many humans are capable of. Too many
people are afraid to try something that they have never done before. Theyre petrified of failure;
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as a result they stick to what they do best and go through the motions. For me, I need to get
away from routine; once I start doing the same thing repetitively is when I know my life is
starting to dissipate. You may argue the point that in order to be good at something, one must
practice that one thing repeatedly until its perfect. That statement may hold true, but take this for
instance. A parent drills knowledge into their childs brain until the boy is the smartest kid on
earth. Unknowingly the parent drove the adolescent into depression because they made him
spend so much time studying that he never learned how to communicate with other kids. The
point Im trying to convey is that it is better to be well rounded rather than strong in one area and
weak in another.
The valuing of ones life goes much further than just working out of the comfort zone.
People who are truly grateful to be alive try to be a positive asset to a community. While doing
this, people subconsciously develop a moral compass. By moral compass I literally mean moral
compass. People develop thoughts and ideals to find direction in life. Humans are constantly
trying to justify their actions using their firm standings and beliefs. Distinguishing your own
personal moral compass from others is the hard part. In order to promote a stronger, more
advanced society, people must be educated. Every day I see uneducated people follow an idea by
sole means of popular belief. Once people start to really look into something and formulate
opinions based on facts is when the moral compass develops. Therefore in order for people to
develop a distinguished, strong moral compass, people must be educated.
As ones morals really start to distinguish themselves from others, thats where
individualism comes in. As a member of the human race, no one is in control of my life. I chose
the path I want to take; the moral compass just guides me. Every human being on this planet is
meant to be different. Its almost like every person is a separate puzzle piece and all the unique
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individuals on this planet fit together to form one big functioning community. If one puzzle piece
is missing, the puzzle cannot be completed, or the society cannot function in this case. Through
the evolution of man we have developed a system. Everyone plays a role in the puzzle by having
an occupation. The only way the system works is if everyone contributes an equal amount of
work. From a physics standpoint, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Believe it or
not, Newtons first law of motion actually can be applied to how we function as a society. What I
mean by this is that every deed you carry out effects someone else in a different way. If we
didnt have farmers we wouldnt eat crops, if we didnt have water filtration plants we couldnt
drink water, and so on. We depend on unique people with their own personal skill sets to survive.
Our society could not function if it was full of conformists.
The last thing that I am going to talk about that derives from the value of life is faith.
Such a simple verb has so much to do with what it means to be a human. Now Im not going to
try and persuade you to believe in something that you dont, but deep down everyone leaves their
faith in something or someone. Weather it be religion, science, a close family member, or a roll
model, it is important to believe in something. Much like the moral compass, faith serves a
guide. Faith is what gives us a reason to get up in the morning. Without faith there is no way to
even speculate what it means to be a member of the human race. People who live their lives day
to day not believing in anything are practically just waiting to die. Without faith life is
meaningless and has absolutely no value.
So what does it really mean to be a human being? My traumatizing experiences involving
injuries brought me to the conclusion that we were put on this planet to treasure, appreciate,
cherish and value the gift of life. From my 18 years of walking around on this planet, Ive
formulated a diagram that consists of what is most important to value my existence. The first of
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four ideas is to work out of my comfort zone. By doing this Ive learned to be a well rounded
individual that is always up for a new and different adventure. The second idea I tried to put on
the table was to self educate in order to develop a strong and dissimilar moral compass. This
idea is directly related to my third point of individualism. The human society is one big puzzle
with individual pieces (people) that make up one great, big, beautiful piece of art (our
community). My fourth and final thought was that of the simple verb, faith. This minute
characteristic of people lives equips us with the drive to keep going. Faith is one of many guides
of human life. All of these ideas create an outline of what it takes to value ones life: To work out
of ones comfort zone, to develop a moral compass, to practice individualism, and to have faith in
someone or something. The simple answer of what it means to be a human being is to just
appreciate and value the life that we are so lucky to have.