Empathy: The Forgotten

We have all been around those people. You know the ones I am talking about. The fortunate person. The person who has lived life being fed by the silver spoon. We hear his or her stories, and problems and ponder in our minds about how better off that person is. But, what we never do, is take the time to understand the most crucial, the most important, the most significant fact about differences in economic and social upbringings.

 You cannot change what you were born into.

 Sure, you may be born into poverty and win the lottery, but that is uncommon and deflects from my underlying point. Life is about luck. We are all dealt cards when we are welcomed into this earth. Yes, some people have more cards than others. Some people have really nice cards that give them many options of which hand to play. Others can only lay one card, and it won't get them far in the game. Though this is hard to accept, its simply how society has been construction.

 Now, the reason why this is important to understand is because it fuels how we manage our lives. It is essentially the basis of most politics and many wars. When someone is raised in a different situation than you, be it better or worse, you cannot blame them for being different from you.

 Perhaps society has begun to lose its empathy.

 You see, I heard a story the other day about my friend's upbringing. I heard about large houses (that is owning multiple family properties) with glorious ground plans and lush locations. The pure indulgence this person had as a child was astounding. Immediately I felt uncomfortable. How could I share a similar story? I come from very humble means. Most people in my area can barely afford one property, and if they own a second its usually a hunting camp with an outhouse and no running water. After a moment of allowing my mind to run into the depths of jealousy, I began to realize... This person never knew anything other than what was just described. To be honest, my stories about going camping and exploring the wilderness may very well be equally as begrudging.

 Often we lose track of what we were given in spite of what we were not. The negative parts of our lives become a flood and encompass all that makes us unique and different; The things that we are thankful for. The things that helped shape us as individuals. No everyone was granted a freshly waxed limousine as a chauffeur to senior prom, just as not everyone was granted a bonfire by the cool, flowing river in the back yard. Take and accept your gains, because someone else will think they're just as special as you think theirs' is.

Vanity is Receding

Mirrors are awful. Media is awful. Sexuality is awful.

These things all influence our vanity. Sometimes to extremes. They make us self conscious, upset, and usually uncomfortable.

I am no stranger to this game. Sure, we all hear about women in the media, but men can have issues with their body image too. For me, recently, its been my hairline. It is receding.

How frivolous is this? I mean sure. It's not a big deal. I have my health. But, lets look at some pictures of models with ideal hairlines in order to emphasize my point.

 


I mean, obviously the point of modeling is to be beautiful. However, the fact that we idolize this societal driven image of beauty is absurd. We should be idolizing intelligence or passion, not hair.

 

So why should I feel so terrible about the fact that my hairline isn't as youthful as it was 4 years ago. I'm educated with a college degree, I continuously seek new sources of information to wrap my mind around, and I challenge everything in order to find out how or why it is happening. I should not be feeling so terrible about something as frivolous as a receding hairline

Because of this, I have decided to accept my growing forehead. Yesterday I had my haircut short in order to flatter what is naturally happening to me. It was a huge blow to my ego, but honestly, it does look a lot better.

I don't think it is healthy to compare your beauty to others. You should only ever have to compare yourself to yourself. Don't try to be like Chris pine or Megan Fox. Find out how you can flatter your body as it is, and go with it. No one will ever say that you look bad if you can work with what cards you were given.

My endeavors in self beauty are clearly only the tip of the ice berg of the huge problem of body image in America. If you don't give into what causes the negative feelings of self worth, then we can eliminate the need to rely on the main sources of eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and self esteem issues. This expectation also leads to bullying in schools. It's a parasite that will grow unless we, as adults, make a strong effort to change the future for everyone.

Like my hairline, vanity can recede. However, unlike my hairline, it won't recede unless you make it.