Antonio, Celine Marie L.

BSA 1-C
Living within the Standards of the 21st Century Generation

Why do we often indulge the pressure to impress people, even those who don’t care we
exist? Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be? It’s a
sad fact of modern life that many of us spend our lives trying to impress other people. Trying to
live up to everyone’s expectations is like trying to cup the ocean in your hand. Living to impress
others is truly sad. By trying to please everyone, we end up pleasing no one. A life spent
ceaselessly trying to please people who are perhaps incapable of ever being pleased, or trying too
hard to always be seen as doing “what’s expected of you,” is a sure road to a regretful existence.
Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

If you live for people’s acceptance, you will die from their rejection. The privilege of a
lifetime is to become who you truly are. You don’t need permission to grow. Remember that real
success in life isn’t what others see, but how you feel. Sometimes you have to do what’s best for
you and your life, not what’s best for everyone else. The greatest prison people live in is the fear
of what others think of them. Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see
your worth because you are good enough! If outside validation is your only source of
nourishment, you will hunger for the rest of your life. The only permission that matters in our
quest for greatness is our own.

Do no try to live up to a standard, be the standard. Living up to a standard is living up to

the expectation of others. But to be the standard is being the best of who you are. In the end,
people will judge you anyway. Don’t live your life impressing others. Live your life impressing
yourself. Don’t live by the standards of this world, nor by the expectations of other people.
Remember, he who follows the crowd, usually gets lost in it. The world is smart but you are born
to become wise.