Life is like a sinusoidal curve. Ups and downs are there. The roller coaster ride of life is all about the challenges and our responses to overcome them. A calm mind, right approach and the ability to think clearly determine our quality of responses towards all the challenges life throws at us. Society is an important part of our lives. Our decisions, thought process and worldviews are highly influenced by the social surroundings we are in. Individuality gets challenged by the group thinking mentality in many social situations. Sometimes it becomes necessary to disrespect your surroundings to look after your mental, psychological, financial situations and other aspirations.
The best and the worst quality of humans is probably ‘cooperation’. Humans can cooperate very easily and effectively. We just need stories, ideologies for an impactful cooperation. From being hunter gatherers to now dominating Earth as a faith decider is the result of human cooperation at many different levels. Religions, political ideologies, terrorisom are all the results of some stories. Moral of the story is that all the revolutions as well as the destruction the world has ever witnessed are all results of human cooperation.
Society is a powerful result of human cooperation. Common causes, similar kinds of struggles and common survival challenges were probably the reasons behind the formation of the first human society (More accurately groups) before the formation of human societies during the agricultural revolution. Societies always endorse groupism. The basic idea of a human society can be routed back to commonness in something. 21st century human societies are a lot more different though compared to the ancient tribal societies. Our academic, career and life decisions are highly influenced by the surroundings. In most of the cases, your decisions are just the results of the mindset your surroundings endorse. It can both lead to positive as well as negative outcomes. Be aware of your surroundings but never be a victim of it.
The phrase ‘disrespect your surroundings’ does not endorse the mindset of disrespecting every individual around you. The mindset of disrespecting your surroundings is all about having that attitude of not getting influenced by your surroundings and building a clear thinking ability.
Throughout life, we have been part of many different societies. From very conservative, orthodoxy societies to ultra modern societies, each and every society endorses different sets of values and lifestyles. Clear thinking is really tough when the base of the data points you are considering for making a decision are highly influenced by your surroundings and the group mindset.
Academic/Life decisions:
A typical middle class Indian society endorses that the sole path of being successful is by choosing a handful of career options like engineering and medicine followed by settling down with a fat pay cheque at an MNC. It's a very toxic tradition. Even a large number of modern Indian millennials are following this path just by going after the flow without even asking themselves about what their passions are or more precisely what their IKIGAIs are. IKIGAI is a Japanese concept. I will talk about that in a separate blog (link will be updated here). Majority of Indian students' academic choices are highly influenced and in some cases highly pressured by their surroundings. Indian education system does not endorse critical thinking. It's very important to develop the ability to think from different perspectives. When you can look into an incident from different perspectives, you will be able to analyse better. You have to disrespect your surroundings to be able to think critically and to have a clear view.
Academic, career to life decisions, every decision we make in life is a result of the influence of our surroundings to a high extent. In an orthodoxy society, even your life decisions are determined by the social standards of your surroundings. Individuality is nowhere respected in such a society. In order to have a life you dreamt to have, you must keep your mindspace free from all the bullshits going around you. Be a good observer, be aware of everything happening around you, learn from them but react selectively. Don't let your surroundings decide your fate. Take your own responsibility. No need to follow the crowd. No need to make everyone happy. Look after yourself, keep improving and keep evolving daily mentally, psychologically and philosophically. Disrespect your surroundings and lead your life on your own terms.