In my experience, there are two types of people. And they have their weaknesses and strengths...of course, I lean toward one side as the stronger because it's the way I choose to live. When it comes to making choices about how to live, there are people who ask "why?" and there are people who ask "why not?" Such similar phrasing--and yet the difference is monumental.
THE WHY PEOPLE
I am a "why" person, unlike a lot of people in my generation. If someone suggests an activity that I am unfamiliar or uncomfortable with, I ask "why?" For example, if someone says to me: "Let's jump into a frozen lake!" or "Let's eat the atomic hot wings at Quaker Steak and Lube that you have to sign a waiver for!" I am going to ask "why the hell would you do that?" The second example actually happened to me once. I witnessed two people making themselves sick with the overly-spicy food and then everyone else at my table decided to follow suit and give it a try. SHEEPLE! They kept trying to convince me, but as I knew it served no purpose but a simple "I did it," I declined. Call me old fashioned, but I believe that the things a person does should have purpose and design. I don't walk around all serious and Debbie-Downer all the time. I'm no Scrooge, hoarding meaning and sentiment to miserly proportions. However, I know that everything we do has some effect on the world. In the case of eating stupidly hot wings, maybe the effect isn't important or necessary to explore. Some why people take it to the extreme and can't even have a simple good time without asking "what's the point?" I'm not one of those...usually. That's no way to live. However, they consider the consequences of their actions.
THE WHY NOT PEOPLE
These are the people who don't really care for foresight. They live in the here and now. Admittedly, they probably have a good time with it...until it's time to pay the piper. These are the type of people who go to a party, consume every offering (legal, illegal, beneficial, or harmful) without prejudice, and shrug their shoulders at the point of it all. Generally, they don't think there is much of a point to anything. Nihilistic would be a great way to describe them. Any action is something to be apathetic about for "why not" people, because they don't buy into the theory that one thing affects another. It's all separate, spontaneous, feelings-based decision-making. There are a lot of twenty-somethings and teenagers that operate on this sort of thought process because they think that they'll step up to the plate one day--just not now. They don't want responsibility or concern. They just want to do what they want to do.
Honestly, "why not" people break my heart. How can you care so little about your own welfare or the state of the world as to shrug your way into darkness? Believe it or not, your choices do not simply affect you. You may not care if your life is completely screwed up. But your loved ones do. You may not feel the burden, but I assure you, someone somewhere does. Even if you are "alone in this world," going with the flow to a fault makes this world an uglier place. The world needs people who care, people who fight, and people who believe in the pursuit of goodness. It needs hope. So, maybe consider looking at that drug and saying "Why? What purpose does it serve in the grand scheme of things?" and use your "why not?" as a serious inquiry into the ramifications your actions might have. YOU MATTER. YOUR ACTIONS MATTER. PUT YOUR LIFE TO GOOD USE rather than vain pursuits. Love deeply, think passionately, and just fucking TRY for once. You will never regret doing the arguably right thing, but you very well may regret doing that idiotic "fun" thing.
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