Change.
The word itself has such great representation, but what exactly is change? The world is always changing as society adapts to it. I’m currently sitting in the cafeteria eating a bowl of split pea soup. I just finished my second bowl. The second bowl was smaller than the first bowl. I have come to realize that I ate the second bowl much slower than the first. This was not done intentionally, but rather second nature.
Spoiled.
I firmly believe that we, as human beings, are born spoiled. Spoiled in the sense that we do not settle as our curiosity drives us further to see what kind of threshold we can pass. When we have more, we appreciate less, and vice versa. We are inevitably seeking ways to either improve ourselves as individuals or seeking ways to improve our self-images.
Unique.
No one human is truly unique. If you have made it to college, it is clear that you are not unique. You followed accepted standards of society which society has established to follow. Go to class, do your work, take exams, don’t go to jail. Is it really good to be unique? If you payed attention in middle school, you were taught that people accused of witchcraft during the Puritan era were executed. The supposed witch stood out from the rest of society because its actions and beliefs were outside of the social norm. People react to others being unique in their own way.
Leaders are "unique."
They do what they want without worrying about criticisms for their actions. Their actions do stand out from others making them have the potential to be contagious. People are interested in following the ways of the individual who is "unique" if it does have a positive end-product by following the individual. Therefore, does being "unique" correlate to leadership? Are witches leaders? If you define leadership from the context that I have provided, witches do meet the criteria. They did as they please not only because it brought them happiness, but because they thought it was just. In addition, people did acquire an interest in following the beliefs of the witch. Witches are leaders the same way the President is the Commander-in-Chief. People admire his choices based on his beliefs as others aspire to be like him because of the potential to live a happy life (after the presidency, of course).
Outcast.
Your actions and/or appearances are different from a group of people. People who stand out from others are sometimes victims of the bully. Therefore, is the victim a leader? Facetiously thinking, the stereotypical victim of bullying is a weak, quiet, defenseless individual who spends his time watching "Star Trek" and knows last year’s almanac like the back of his hand. The stereotype continues with the victim that writes the paychecks of other people; including the bully. If the stereotypical victim continues to do what he or she wants, he or she will most likely attend a prestigious school and will come out with a six-digit salary right away. Meanwhile, people go to college to follow the footsteps of the victim who was bullied. How ironic. Sounds pretty nice or "unique" to be an outcast when you look at it that way, right?
If there was a moral to this thought process which suddenly came to my attention, it would be to live your life the way you want to. As humans, we inevitably crave more. We try to do what makes us happy, even if that means standing out from the rest of the crowd. Who knows; maybe your actions can impact another individual to the point where that person wants to follow your footsteps. Who wants to play "Follow the Leader?"
It’s amazing what dinner with a view of the Hudson River can do.
