Attitude is Everything

My good friend Anthony Cooper sent me a link to this blog post the other day and it really had an effect on me. The blog author didn't write it, it's actually a graduation speech given by a man named David Foster Wallace. It's a pretty lengthy post, so I'm sure that most of you won't bother to read it, but if you have like ten minutes I promise it's really worth your time. For now I'm going to summarize it and then share some of my thoughts.

The bulk of the article, or at least the part that I liked the most, talked all about human attitude and how a simple change in outlook can have such a deep and far stretching impact. In the speech, Foster set up a situation in which an average American person works a standard 9-5 shift at his white-collar desk job and then has to deal with the frustrations of traffic jams, supermarket lines, and the selfishness and overall annoyance of other people around them. It's a common situation that we all have been through in the past, and that we will all have to continue dealing with as we grow up. The question is not of the situation, however, it is the reaction to the situation.

Are you the kind of person that gets really frustrated with petty things like this? Does someone cutting you off in traffic or a simple task taking longer than it should clearly affect your mood and attitude? Think about this stuff. Look back to a time you've been frustrated or angry in the past week, and try to figure out why you felt that way. Was the situation worth getting worked up about? Did it have any far-reaching impact on your life? My guess is, probably not. I would also venture a guess to say that your attitude made said situation much worse, not only for yourself, but probably for some of the people around as well.

Humans seem to me to be conditioned to get in this robotic state of mind in most situations that present themselves. There is a lot of repetition, a lot of monotony, and a lot of really dull hours in life. That is not going to change, you can't control it. What you can control is allowing personal growth in these situations. In my experience, humans rarely seem to strive for general, personal improvement, especially people under the age of 25, which is who I've spent most of my time around in my life. We want to be successful, we want to feel valued and important, but we tend to not realize that there is rarely a time when we are unable to get closer to reaching those goals. Focusing on being a better person in the dull moments of life can make a huge impact. Not only will it make your everyday experiences better for you and everyone around, it will ultimately make you a more attractive person, a more successful person, and a much happier person.

One huge way that I think we can become more well-rounded people is by interacting with people around us, even if they are strangers. I've been riding the T (it's like a subway) to work since I moved to the city, and I can honestly say that I would rather take the 20 minute commute to talk to a stranger rather than reading a book or listening to music or playing games on my phone. I haven't had much success in doing so, because most people put off this aura that you trying to make a conversation with them would be the worst thing that could possibly happen. I'm sure people aren't really like that (well not all of them at least), and I'm sure I have left that impression on someone in the past as well. Just imagine how much more you can gain from having a real conversation with another human being than entertaining yourself with music or games or what have you.

I always go into these posts with a bunch of thoughts but no real structure for them, I'll just start writing and I usually end up somewhere I didn't really see myself going. So yeah, I'd love to hear opinions from other people.