Existentialism

Every single day we have to make choices. Thousands of them. 'Am I going to wake up at 6 and have time or am I going to wake up at 6:45 and rush my way to school?'But sometimes theres even bigger choices we have to make like having the right attitude as we go through life.  Maybe you wont really think about this on the daily. Maybe you'll just think about it while trying to fall asleep at night, turning and tossing in your bed, and deeper thoughts come to. "How do I go through life?' 'What is my purpose?" 'Who am I?' These are all thoughts I'm sure most of us have had.  But no one can get out of decision making. The choices we make stay forever and sometimes it doesn't matter but looking back on it maybe it does, 'Should I have acted differently?' 'Why did I say that?' Regret is what can result when we don't make aware or mindful choices. 

"This is water" by David Foster Wallace explains the idea that your choices are all up to you. Whatever you choose to do, it what will end up happening, but sometimes instead of blindly making choices you sometimes have to tap into your consciousness and forget about your "natural default-setting". I usually  go on my "natural default-setting" when I'm pushed up against 3 people in the sweat-smelling crowded hallways while 3 others are pushing me into a wall. 'Are they stupid? Do they not know how to walk?" These thoughts and sometimes worse cross my head. Everyone is trying to get somewhere. I'm not special, the world isn't gonna stop for me. Everyone knows this but do we really?

Existentialism - a philosophical theory which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of will- is what "This is Water" reminded me of. Though I didn't know the term when I read the piece, I understood the feeling and knew there had to be a term out there that related to what Wallace was speaking about. Existentialism goes deep into why humans exist and what our purpose is but at some point there is no real purpose and humans make choices that influence a grater purpose. At least this is how I interpreted it. And that is where I want to connect these two ideas. 

By making "aware" choices, humans cause a greater good; for everybody and themselves. It's no lie that when you do a good deed you feel a little happy yourself. This question of purpose that is common among humans as we grow all comes down to our choices and our perspective. It is as simple as that but will never be that easy. It takes time and effort to change our perspective and automatic choices. But once we put in that effort maybe we could have more happiness for ourselves in life.