Salvaña: Society and social influence

(Contributed photo)
(Contributed photo)

EXPERIENCE sums up the total formation of a person. A man is what he reads, what movies he watches, what manners he was taught and how he was raised. He is also his education, his environment, his travels and his everyday existence. He would be naturally born into the world bereft of experience, of wisdom but as he grows older, his overall life experiences would groom and shape him into a more mature and intelligent being.

If a man is born into a family of artists, a big part of his language, his manners and gait will likely be that of an artist. If he is born into an environment filled with sarcasms and indifference, he will likely become sarcastic and indifferent himself. In the same way, if he is born into a family of happy and positive people, then he will also most likely become a happy and a positive thinker.

And then would come in education and the influence of friends, of teachers, of religion, of work, of his travels, and all the people that he meets, then a person changes or transforms into an even better version of himself. Or if a turn of unfortunate events happen, he could sadly become the worse version of himself.

This only goes to say that a man's totality does not limit to the family he was born in. Given that one would be born into an indifferent family, there are still greater chances for him to be different if he strives to become a more affectionate, selfless and empathetic person for himself and for the people around him. He could end this vicious cycle of indifference by starting to initiate change within himself.

So with everything said, logic would tell us that it would be wise to choose what we read, what movies to watch, choose our circle of friends, let go of toxic people as toxicity is contagious, and strive to become better versions of ourselves.

With the onset of better technology and the easy and free access to social media nowadays, harsh and savage-thinking people are growing by the numbers as if it has already become a trend, paving the way to lots and lots of insecure and depressed people. Or might be, social media has only made us realize that a quite number of harsh people have already walked this Earth sans the influence of the Internet.

Less and less souls of the new generation are going out physically and limiting themselves to the closed walls of their comfort zones thus limiting their encounter with the real world and with real people.

Shouldn't we be going out more often and see more of the physical world more often? Wouldn't it pay off to sweat out a little every now and then to melt away the toxicities built up in our systems and feel lighter and happier? We need not spend a fortune to experience the world. We need not go far to see more of the world. We can always be tourists in our own municipality, in our own city, in our own country, even in our own backyards. We need not jump in the bandwagon and seep into the bitter world of the indifferent as if it is the coolest thing to be.

After all, wouldn't the world be a healthier and a happier place to live in if we only choose to love, to be kind and to choose to be different? The choice would always be ours. It would just be a matter of strength and strong will to dare to be different or to stay different.

As William Shakespeare had metaphorically phrased in one of his famous plays, “The world is your oyster.” And he has always been right all along as proven by stories of successful people. We always do have the advantage in this world. It is up to us on how we see it and how to make use of it.

cherylsalvana@gmail.com

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