Listen to this articleLIFE (PERSONAL) CHOICES
MAKING PERSONAL CHOICES WHILE TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD OF LIFE
There are societal choices, and there are personal choices in life. With regard to societal choices, business and political leaders make choices that can influence one's life chances in both negative and positive ways. In the political sphere, some executive, legislative, and judicial choices that leaders make for society run the gamut from being liberal (for instance, the Utilitarian world view) to conservative (for instance, the Pareto Optimality world view) in scope and everything else in between these opposing world views, which is why it remains important to register your public policy preferences by voting [in an orderly, peaceful, fair, and civilized manner] during elections. To be sure, many young adults in the USA do not bother to vote during elections, and their failure to vote is an early indication that these affected young adults do not take their stewardship of Earth seriously. This Life Choices page, however, is not so much concerned about societal choices as it is about examining some of the personal choices that humans make as they travel down the road of life.
The next generation of children stands poised to take command. The next generation of children soon will be responsible for running the world. What will the future be like? Will it be like Heaven (life, prosperity, and peace), or will it be like Hell (death, self-destruction, and extinction)?
As the upcoming generation of children prepares to run the world, there will be many potential distractions, pitfalls, and obstacles that they most likely will encounter as they travel down the road of life. These distractions, pitfalls, and obstacles could derail them and cause them to take their eyes off the prize of Heaven on Earth. The following two links and the following eight songs reveal some of the kinds of distractions, pitfalls, and obstacles that cause some youths to pursue a counterproductive path as they travel down the road of life:
- Violence, Abuse, and Crime Exposure in a National Sample of Children and Youth
- Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United States, 2009
- Erykah Badu - "Other Side Of The Game"
- Tupac (Makaveli also known as 2Pac) Shakur - "So Much Pain" [WARNING: Explicit lyrics]
- Tupac (Makaveli also known as 2Pac) Shakur featuring Outlawz - "Hail Mary"
- Stevie Wonder - "My Love Is With You"
- Stevie Wonder - "Each Other's Throat"
- Curtis Mayfield - "Little Child Runnin' Wild"
- Curtis Mayfield - "Eddie You Should Know Better"
- Erykah Badu - "Danger" [WARNING: Explicit lyrics]
The following ten songs are inspirational. They encourage youths to do the right thing, to remain positive, to stay focused, and to stay on the productive path as they travel down the road of life:
- Stevie Wonder - "Tomorrow Robins Will Sing"
- Stevie Wonder - "Bird Of Beauty"
- Stevie Wonder - "Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing"
- Stevie Wonder - "I Go Sailing"
- Earth, Wind & Fire - "Devotion"
- Earth, Wind & Fire - "Take It To The Sky"
- Earth, Wind & Fire - "Sailaway"
- Earth, Wind & Fire - "Shining Star"
- Herbie Hancock - "Sunlight"
- Atlantic Starr - "Let The Sun In"
Will the next generation of children grow wise enough to avoid or surmount these distractions, pitfalls, and obstacles? Will the next generation of children summon the conviction and the inner strength to overcome the various enticements that will attempt to appeal to their basest, cruelest, and most primitive instincts? Time will tell whether or not these youths capitulate or succumb to these retrogressive forces.
Moving forward into the 22nd century to attain an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens requires humans worldwide to transcend their carrot-and-stick, dog-eat-dog, use-and-abuse, kill-or-be-killed, freedom-or-incarceration, and divide-and-conquer approaches to daily living. For, united the human species shall stand and thrive, but divided and the human species runs the risk or the possibility of falling into extinction.
Moving forward into the 22nd century to attain an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens requires humans all over the globe, in unison, to free themselves from their primitive past. It requires humans all around the world to embrace a mind-set that enables them to live a new, different, better kind of reality.
When living in an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, without recourse to special inducements such as carrots and sticks, war and peace, or the prospect of going to Heaven or Hell (to live with God or Satan in the afterlife), humans would be of the mind-set whereby, as a matter of course, they naturally would be good to one another. Their everyday conduct would illuminate their goodness. If humans genuinely treated one another with courtesy and respect, then many of society's ills would cease to exist.
When living in an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, humans would be of the mind-set whereby a family could travel and stay abroad for, say, 5 or 20 years, leave every door and window to its home wide open, and not have a single item disturbed when that family returned home after having spent 5 or 20 years living in another country.
In an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, humans would be of the mind-set whereby a family could leave every door and window to its home wide open each night and not have to worry about, say, a criminal, intruder, thief, molester, murderer, or rapist entering the property to commit acts of evil. This new type of mind-set would hold true even in the Earth's largest cities.
In an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, humans would be of the mind-set whereby a merchant could leave the door to his or her store wide open or the doors to the shopping mall unlocked each night, return the next day, and find that not a single item has been disturbed.
In other words, in an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, humans will have elevated their conduct to such a high ethical plane until acts of stealing, rape, bullying, violence, bribery, extortion, torture, murder, hatred, discrimination, racism, and so forth, simply would be unthinkable. Perhaps the crime of murder is the world's worst crime. Why? Murder is perhaps the worst possible crime in the world because death is final. Unlike, say, victims of rape, robbery, or torture who will have time to heal and rebuild their lives, a murder victim can never be brought back to life. Regrettably to say, as of 2012, there are places on Earth whereby the act of murdering another human being means little to nothing at all, which is the essence of Stevie Wonder's songs titled "Love's In Need Of Love Today", "Pastime Paradise", and "So What The Fuss".
Humanity now stands at the precipice in the 21st century. Humans can choose a future of Heaven (life, prosperity, and peace), or they can choose a future of Hell (death, self-destruction, and extinction). Truly wise human beings would choose Heaven. My one wish in life is to see all humans living happily, living freely, living decently, having legal careers, and earning decent wages to care for household members. My one wish in life is to see all humans experiencing a fairly good quality of life on Earth. My one wish in life is to see the peoples of the Earth living in peace and getting along with one another. My one wish in life is to see all humans prospering and thriving as they simultaneously continue to expand their academic, vocational, artistic, scientific, technological, and athletic horizons.
In an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, it simply would be unthinkable for humans to commit crimes such as the ones depicted in the image below:
The reason why it would be unthinkable for humans to behave in such counterproductive ways in an Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens is because humans finally will have learned how to "Be Ever Wonderful" (Earth, Wind & Fire).
To the end of choosing to live constructively, I wish to offer a bit of advice to the children of the world. In a capitalistic or free enterprise system, you normally begin at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Based on merit, you gradually rise up the corporate ladder. Except the extraordinarily talented and except corporate or business founders, few people begin at the top of the corporate ladder. Even many college graduates accept entry-level positions in their chosen professions. These college graduates proceed to work their way up the corporate ladder. The two most important things to remember are these:
- The available positions at the top of the corporate ladder are limited. Everybody will not make it to the top. Some people will never rise to the top of their chosen professions for not everybody is trained or capable of handling expanded job responsibilities and increased work burdens; not everybody is trained or capable of analyzing complex business-related issues to make wise business decisions. Take courthouse judges, for instance. It takes wise and learned individuals to assess all angles of a multitude of issues in concert with existing statues to render fair and just verdicts when deciding legal cases. Business success is not guaranteed; sometimes the smartest business leaders miscalculate and make unwise decisions that sometimes lead to the failure of the business. Generally speaking, in principle, the best and the brightest are the ones who rise to the very top of the corporate ladder.
- You do not need to reach the top of the corporate ladder in order to make a decent living in life. No matter what your chosen profession or station in life happens to be, you always should strive to give your very best effort.
Take multimillionaire Sean Combs (also known as P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy, and Diddy), for instance. P. Diddy began his career in music as an intern and mailroom clerk. In time, P. Diddy proceeded to become a music mogul and one of the USA's most well-known corporate executives. Take Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein, for instance. Albert Einstein began his career as a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office. In time, Albert Einstein proceeded to become one of the most famous scientists in the world and one of the most revered college professors of all times. In both instances, Sean Combs and Albert Einstein began at the bottom of the corporate ladder and worked their way to the top of their selected professions. They did not begin at the top, and theirs were not instant or "overnight" success stories.
My point is this: It usually takes time to make it to the top of your chosen profession, or, in more general terms, you should expect and be prepared to "pay your dues" in sweat and toil as you climb up the corporate ladder. It would be unrealistic of you to expect to become rich or famous instantly. The instant or "overnight" success stories rarely occur in life notwithstanding the viral influence of television and notwithstanding the viral influence of the World Wide Web's social media dimension. Television and social media are known reliable sources for propelling a handful of unknown individuals into the limelight and at the forefront of public attention. Generally speaking, the instant or "overnight" success stories in life are the exception rather than the rule. It usually takes time, dedication, hard work, and patience to make it to the top of your chosen profession. To make it to the top is not guaranteed. Sometimes you might have to settle for being the second, third, 100th, 1,000th, 1,000,000th, or 1,000,000,000th best in your chosen profession. Nevertheless, you always should strive to give your best effort at whatever you choose to do in life. You have to accept the fact that, in any contest, there will be winners and losers. Sometimes you win, and other times you lose. To lose does not mean that it is the end of the world; more opportunities to win will be forthcoming in life. From elections to sports competitions to court cases, when score is being kept or tallied, both or all contestants cannot be declared the winner, which is why it is crucial to uphold and safeguard the principle of fairness, fair play, or a level playing field.
The following three songs indicate that a better way forward exists as humans prepare to move into the 22nd century. This new, better way forward stands waiting to be availed; its focus is on courtesy and respect between all humans:
- Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - "We Need Love To Live"
- Ledisi - "Alright"
- Black Eyed Peas - "Imma Be"
PREPARING FOR 22ND CENTURY LIVING: TRAFFIC SIMULATION
In many respects, as the traffic simulation suggests, from the perspective of space, human life on Earth can be likened to the busy movement of ants. A key difference between humans and ants is this: The fate of planet Earth rests in the hands of humans.
A LINK IN THE CHAIN OF HUMAN PROGRESS: KEPLER'S THREE LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION
In his study of inertia, motion, force, momentum, mass, velocity, acceleration, and gravitation, Sir Isaac Newton (born 1642) was influenced and inspired by the work of his predecessor, Johannes Kepler (born 1571). In turn, Johannes Kepler was influenced by the works of his predecessors such as Tycho Brahe (born 1546). And so it goes with human progress. Each new generation builds from the knowledge of the prior generations (hopefully, for the betterment of humanity).
To this day, as of 2012, humans continue to make significant scientific strides. I often state that Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein arguably are two of the smartest individuals to have ever walked the face of Earth up to this point in human history. It is comforting to know that contemporary math prodigies and scientific luminaries such as Terence Chi-Shen Tao (born 1975) and Edward Witten (born 1951) are continuing in the tradition of Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. They are hard at work in pursuit of the ongoing human quest to understand how the natural world works, how the Universe works, and, ultimately, the quest to understand the origins of origins.
VISIONS OF THE FUTURE AND A BRIGHTER TOMORROW
Despite the impressive and inspirational works of mathematical visionaries such as Terence Chi-Shen Tao and Edward Witten, sight must not be lost of the fact that self-preservation or extinction-avoidance must remain the number one priority of humans. In this fastly moving 21st century, humans really do need to take the time out to carefully ponder the ramifications of their scientific and technological discoveries. Humans really do need to proceed into the future with an overabundance of caution and forethought. For, as I suggested on the "A Little Knowledge" page of this website, it is all too easy for humans to become enamored with and captivated by the promises of prosperity so as to become blinded by the inherent dangers or the adverse consequences of certain business strategies that are pursued and adopted in the name of progress. Yes, it would be fabulous for humankind to experience a state of futuristic living on Earth but not at the price of human extinction. In others words, humans must not be content to take just any path to futuristic living. Humans consciously should endeavor to take the wisest and most prudent path, that is, a path that likely will result in the survival and vibrancy of the human species, which is the essence of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks by Martin Rees, Alex Steffen, and Stephen Petranek, respectively:
Additional Links for Life Choices:
- O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org)
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Job Outlook by Education, 2006-16
- Working in the 21st Century
- Discover A Hobby - Ultimate Directory for Finding and Learning New
Hobbies!!
- Extracurricular Activities
- Information about Health, Growth and Emotions for Teens: TeensHealth.org
- MedlinePlus - Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
- 10 Tips Nutrition Education Series
- It's My Life
- Time Management
- Managing Life after Graduating and Leaving Home
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