I'm sorry if school happens to be a recurring topic around here. It happens to be the constant in my life right now so sorry again, I can't help it. I'm in a personality theory class and I love it. We've been studying Rollo May and his existential psychology over the past week and I must say, it's my favorite. I like the concept much better than many of the other theories. They all have their good points but I think existentialism fits me. Here's a few reasons why:
Existence means progress and to emerge or become. It involves change and growth and gives people the opportunity to redefine themselves continually by the choices they make.
You are responsible for who you are and what you can become. Sartre said that "Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself."
You have the ability to make choices that affect your destiny. May said that destiny is "the design of the universe speaking through the design of each one of us."
Destiny is our destination and goal, but it does not mean we cannot change it. We can choose how we respond to what comes our way.
When we challenge our destiny, we gain freedom and as we gain this freedom, we push the limits of destiny. Without destiny we are not free, but without freedom, our destiny means nothing. May said that "the freedom of each of us is in proportion to the degree with which we confront and live in relation to our destiny."
I've lived in Utah for 29 of my 30 years on this earth and I must say that it has been a struggle. I have struggled to find myself and to discover who I truly am while living in the dominant LDS culture. Only recently have I started to figure it out. Existentialism discusses the anxiety that comes from leaving yourself behind in order to grow, change, and face your destiny. I think I had 30 years of pent-up anxiety and man it wasn't easy, but it was worth it. Human beings are not constant, the only constancy about us is that we are always changing and re-evaluating our lives whether we are aware of it or not.
Buddha said that "the only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows." This is my new motto. It is a struggle for me and will most likely continue to be for the rest of my life, but I will find myself regardless of my surroundings and I will be happy with myself regardless of what others may think of me. My idea of happiness is not to be continually striving for something you are not, but to strive for something you are. And what you are is up to you and no one else.
We are all different and with that comes different destinies. I don't believe that we are meant for the same thing; if that were the case we would have been born and raised the same. I'm glad we're different and I'm glad we are going different places. This world would be a very boring place otherwise.
