What's your script?
BY ANNA KORSUNSKA (COMD/III)
annak@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
''Create the world you dream of with every choice you make.'' - Stephen C. Paul
We are born into a system. The world is already formed beforehand. It seems that your life is just beginning, but you are never given a blank page. You are given a script called, ''This is what your life should be like."
And we don't really have much of a choice in the matter, so we start playing:
The first chapter, childhood: Pre-school, playing with toys, learning to ride a bike, running around screaming in happiness, eating candy until your stomach hurts. Then, teenage years: school, being moody, doing crazy things, experimenting. Young adult: university, relationships, car, parties. Adult: marriage, children, big house, job, money. Senior: retirement.
My question is, ''is that all?'' Really, is that all life has to offer? Don't we have any choice? Of course we do. But when we people try to get away from the script, they are judged. Severely. We are labeled as ''weird'' or ''rebellious,'' when we try to do something different. Different is just different. We are all unique beings. We have the right to choose our path in life. Who says we all have to choose the same one?
Why does everyone have to be the same? Do the same things? Why is it so hard to break away from the mass and make your own decisions?
For example, people ask why I am a vegetarian, and they expect me to say parents, church, God, animal protection organizations, dieting specialists, doctors, whatever. It's so much easier to use those things as an excuse than to stand by your beliefs. Without the support of religion, family, or something else behind you, you're alone. And you get judged for being different because it was your initiative to change something about your life. No one told you to. That's the hard way. But, in my opinion, it's the right way.
What inspired me to write this article is the story of Elizabeth Scharpf, which was published in the New York Times under the title "DIY Foreign Aid." She had everything going for her in her script: money, a top university, and good-paying career ahead of her. But she decided to move to Nepal and teach underprivileged children (read about her story at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/ magazine/24volunteerism-t.html).
My point is to say choose for yourself, and don't accept things blindly. Don't let your life be predetermined. Be brave enough to be in control, to stand up and be different. And to create the life you want to live.