People, judged from the highest perspective

(Caution: This post contains major stereotyping. People who are not able to respect (or read my title) opinions of others, please stay away.)

One of the biggest conundrums in life (at least to me) is the character of people. I can't help but stop and wonder why did they turn out the way they are. Some people might say that it might be their upbringing or family background. But when I look a little closer, I see - no their parents aren't like them. Neither are their siblings or aunts or cousins etc etc. So the only inference that I can speculate is their surroundings. The people around them. And most importantly, their peers, which will lead to another issue, comformity (I will elaborate more on that in the next post).

People are made up of different things. These "things" which I'm referring to are the characters, traits, qualities, habits and so on of people. All these are like building blocks which comes in different colors and shapes. Everyone is built in their own special and unique way. Some might have a little more variety while some may only have a few.

What puzzles me is who gets to determine how the person will be built? Using which block? And why that one? Most people would answer that it is ourselves who get to determine how we want to be built. That we are our own architect, contractor, brick-layer and so on. But we are rather unaware of how susceptible we are to outside influences. They too play a fairly large part in deciding how and which blocks would be used. But of course it doesn't mean that we have to let others take the rein. We have the ability to discern what's right and wrong.

On contrary to that, we still see many bad apples everywhere. Blessed we are with the power to distinguish between right and wrong but yet people are still acting in such an apathetic way. Undeniably, they failed to do the right thing. Or rather, they chose to do the wrong thing. I mean what's so great with being rebellious. Does it make you cool? No, you don't. Instead you'll be looked down upon.

In this post I would like to emphasize more on adolescents. Teenagers. It's one of the more crucial stages in life. During this short period of time, you're expected to map out how exactly the next 40 years of your life would be. A friend once said to me, "Isn't it a pity that during this time of our life we have to decide how we're going to live for the rest of our lives?" Do I agree with her? No, I don't. The years we have between the age of 13 and 20 aren't meant to be wasted on dalliance. And it is at this time where we are at our strongest point. We're strong and healthy. And most of all, we're free from all major life responsibilities.

It is at this time where we start developing our identity. Or rather only some of us. The reason I say that is because of the living proof I see around me. Teenagers with fully matured bodies but with brains of a 6-year-old. And guess what? They're proud of it. They're proud to say, "Hey! I listen to rap and you don't so you're old fashioned" or "I'm much more matured than you are because I've already had sex".

You see how twisted the way a teenager's mind work? I'm not implying that all teenagers are this way. I'm just making a general statement. We (I'm saying "we" because I admit that I sometimes act in this way too) put ourselves in such a position that we feel we're superior to others. We're all irate teenagers. Emotions all jumbled up inside us. Those who are able to sift through the right and wrong would satisfy their anger in a much more constructive way such as pushing themselves to work harder to prevent further disappointments. Others who lacked integrity would vent their anger at others and along the way they would lose those around them.

(I fear that this will turn into yet another long post. Hence, I will stop right here and hope later there will be an ensuing post as I've still much to prattle on about. This post ends here.)