Do What You Love

My dream consists of a life where I can be happy and excited to get up every morning knowing I'm doing what I love.  The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer talked a lot about doing what you love and finding your passion, and it really spoke to me.  In a letter to Ron Franz Chris was explaining how he should change his lifestyle and Chris stated "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." (57).  I believe being an American allows you to do what you love, Chris did that.  This shows how people are so used the social norms that no one wants to follow their true passion because they are scared.  I try to do everything I can to live a life where I am happy and where I am doing something I love to do.  I believe that society is brainwashed and are too scared to take risks and follow their true passions. ​

Another example of doing what you love and following your dreams was from Henry David Thoreau's Where I lived and What I lived for.  This was one of my favorite pieces of literature because I could really relate to Thoreau’s ideas.  He stated, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (5).  Thoreau did what he loved, what made him happy.  I believe that doing what you love is the most important thing, it is what we live for.  What is the point of life if you're not enjoying it?  I completely agree with Thoreau, I know I don’t want to get to the end of my life to find out that I had not lived.  By secluding himself, he found his true understanding of life.  He found that being alone in the woods was his calling.  For me being an American means to do what you love and find your true purpose.  I believe that everyone should find their true meaning in life and Thoreau did that, he found himself and that made him happy.
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No one makes your decisions or makes your life besides yourself.  I believe that one very important part of being human is that you can choose your own path and have your own ideas.  In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien he was talking about trues stories and how all stories can be true if you take meaning out of it.  He stated “You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask. Somebody tells a story, let's say, and afterward you ask, "Is it true?" and if the answer matters, you've got your answer” (79).  Live the life you want and believe what you want.  No one should stop you from doing or believing what you want.  O’brien shows that if you care about a story or care about something then it is true to you and is important to you.