Wake Up Every Day to Impress Yourself
Dexter York
March 2019
Life is a competition. From the moment we are born, we are competing with our peers. We are like a level 1 warrior in a Muggle’s video game. We tie our peasant shoes, pick up our wooden sword and off into the wilderness we go.
When we are young, we are sorted by age and placed in groups. For Muggles, it is kindergarten then school; for witches and wizards, it is Hogwarts. That time in our lives is the only time when we are with people our age. Once we finish our education, we are exposed to people of all ages. Those times when we were or wanted to be at the top of the class are gone, and now we face new challenges and often many realize that they are a level 1 warrior again.
As humans, we need to obtain skills, gain experience, have a career, find a partner, and produce offspring. Suddenly we have to have our lives figured out – we have to know who we are. It feels like everybody else has it figured out and we start to compare ourselves to others. Everyday we see Bob in the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic talking about his fancy Thunderbolt VII. We look down at our Cleansweep Eleven and of course it doesn’t feel great. Our home isn’t as warm as it used to be, our Junior Auror paycheck is nowhere near satisfying. Sometimes things are not looking too good.
It is a realization that many Muggles, witches, and wizards go through. Some people skip a step or linger longer at another, but life doesn’t have a plan, life doesn’t have expectations. What you are expected to do is a social or cultural construct – you need to have a degree, build a career, do this and that before you are too old. That’s what other people want you to do. You need to ask yourself what you want to do. Instead of comparing yourself with others, look back. Are you a better version of yourself than you were 12 months ago?
You don’t have to own more things, or have better pay, or accomplish something large. Start with something small like forgiving someone. You can impress yourself by helping someone, working at your own mental or physical health, committing to wearing every piece of underwear without avoiding the ones at the bottom of your underwear drawer. Your personal growth shows only when you compare the current you with the old you. Let Bob brag about his Thunderbolt VII. He will get nowhere with that narrow assessment of life. You keep enjoying your smuggled flying carpet. Embrace things that matter to you and you alone.
Life is a competition. From the moment we are born, we are competing with our peers. We are like a level 1 warrior in a Muggle’s video game. We tie our peasant shoes, pick up our wooden sword and off into the wilderness we go.
When we are young, we are sorted by age and placed in groups. For Muggles, it is kindergarten then school; for witches and wizards, it is Hogwarts. That time in our lives is the only time when we are with people our age. Once we finish our education, we are exposed to people of all ages. Those times when we were or wanted to be at the top of the class are gone, and now we face new challenges and often many realize that they are a level 1 warrior again.
As humans, we need to obtain skills, gain experience, have a career, find a partner, and produce offspring. Suddenly we have to have our lives figured out – we have to know who we are. It feels like everybody else has it figured out and we start to compare ourselves to others. Everyday we see Bob in the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic talking about his fancy Thunderbolt VII. We look down at our Cleansweep Eleven and of course it doesn’t feel great. Our home isn’t as warm as it used to be, our Junior Auror paycheck is nowhere near satisfying. Sometimes things are not looking too good.
It is a realization that many Muggles, witches, and wizards go through. Some people skip a step or linger longer at another, but life doesn’t have a plan, life doesn’t have expectations. What you are expected to do is a social or cultural construct – you need to have a degree, build a career, do this and that before you are too old. That’s what other people want you to do. You need to ask yourself what you want to do. Instead of comparing yourself with others, look back. Are you a better version of yourself than you were 12 months ago?
You don’t have to own more things, or have better pay, or accomplish something large. Start with something small like forgiving someone. You can impress yourself by helping someone, working at your own mental or physical health, committing to wearing every piece of underwear without avoiding the ones at the bottom of your underwear drawer. Your personal growth shows only when you compare the current you with the old you. Let Bob brag about his Thunderbolt VII. He will get nowhere with that narrow assessment of life. You keep enjoying your smuggled flying carpet. Embrace things that matter to you and you alone.