The Individual’s Journey
What will the future bring? Upon every new graduates final step off the ceremonial stage, this question has occupied man’s mind, though not always to the same degree. Historically, it is mainly in times of distress, the thought of not knowing what’s next, that our eyes turn with anxious and aimless hopes for the future. With naive wonderment having been sheltered from reality up until this point, they make the assumption that the life they aspire to have will somehow miraculously work out..
“Any theory based on experience is necessarily statistical; that is to say, it formulates an ideal average which abolishes all exceptions at either end of the scale and replaces them by an abstract mean.” -Carl Jung
Carl Jung brings light to the notions regarding theories individuals conjure up to serve as guides to self-knowledge, that by nature, reality is predominantly irregular and consists of nothing but exceptions to the rule. This is to say that no matter how sound the advice may resonate to the listener, it is ultimately each listener’s autonomy that produces the closest results they desire.
Achieving one’s goals can be a somewhat direct and relatively simplistic path if one were to be something average, but with the accessibility of world in the palm of our hands, many, if not all, desire to fight above their weight class. In other words, the individual’s desire of today do not measure within the bounds of the absolute reality set in front of the individual. These circumstances are not there to oppress any particular group for they have no conscience of your plight. They are simply one of infinite limitations and challenges any individual is dealt to overcome. If you wish to attain the things you want most, nothing worthwhile comes easy, and the best experiences and moments usually happen outside of your comfort zone. Only after conquering the individualistic limitations that stand in our way will we find our higher sense of self. Those with more or less limitations are relative to the individual and should not be compared for we do not know each other’s hardships: the dealings that go on behind closed doors or in other’s minds.
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life.” – Theodore Roosevelt
The gift of reason and critical reflection is not one of man’s outstanding or usual features or habits, and even where it exists in an individual can prove to be wavering and inconstant, which is to say that an individual, left to their own devices (tools and methods) walk off the stage with an underprepared yet overestimated state of mind. This, in some respects, is natures way, promoting progress as fledglings lack fear for they don’t know what should be feared. This bliss, should the student take advantage of it, grants more chances as well as risks that older, wiser and more battle hardened adults have learned to avoid or move on from.
"The more you know, the more you realize you don't know." - Aristotle
Speaking from my estimations, the skills, talent, intelligence and wherewithal required to achieve exactly one’s goals is not innate, but a devout vocation of reason, insight, sacrifice, determination, health, strength and flexibility. Each of these attributes hold multiple meanings along multiple stages of life. Without critical reflection to humble the ego and clearly assess every obstacle along the way, one cannot expect to progress in an honest manner. Those who cheat their own growth in desperation risk resorting to lower means of deception to achieve but ultimately result in failure.
-Busy Brain