WRITING IN PROGRESS (1.2) ....

Here are a few snippets of a blog I am currently working on! The newest is at the bottom. 

. . . My experiences, though, are not tragic in nature. Instead, my experiences are positive. At least, they seem positive from the outset. How can childhood encouragement shape one's identity to create in them an inclination for poor choices? This is a good question, and even though my experiences are not necessarily overarching I believe that they may shed some light on why young men (18-24) are prone to avoid commitment, and are terrified of making final decisions. . . .

. . . The phrase, "you can be anything you want to be" shaped my identity growing up. I took this phrase to heart and trusted it as "truth." I allowed this "truth" to dig itself deeply into my heart and psyche. In fact, this one phase has shaped the identity of myself and my peers so deeply that it is unlikely we will ever concede that it's not "truth." I personally believe that this phrase is a lie from hell, and that it has confused, delayed, and stunted the adulthood of my generation. I know that there is much more to blame for the continued adolescence of my peers, but this ideology has played it's horrific role. I suppose that it may be true that if you work hard enough you can achieve much. But it is simply a bold-faced, hell-bent, damnable lie to tell everybody they can literally achieve anything and everything that they want. . . .  

. . . Another word for mindset is worldview -- how we see the world, and in turn, how we interpret what we see. I believe that the phrase, ‘You can do anything you want’ points to a very specific worldview. I believe that this worldview currently saturates culture, and until very recently was how I viewed the world (however unknowingly). There are a lot of other phrases out there that contribute to this worldview -- for instance, ‘Pull yourself up by your bootstraps,’ God helps those who help themselves,’ and ‘The only obstacle is yourself.’ The common thread in these common sayings is You, and I believe that this thread is at the core of our worldview. This thread is the core of this post and this thread is the core of my issues with my childhood encouragement. These phrases contributed to one thing in my life; one incredibly horrific, life-sucking, deeply dangerous thing  -- they contributed to me making myself my own god. . . .