We're at a time of our lives where we have the opportunity to stay up till 4 a.m., sleep until our 1:40 p.m. class, show up in our pajamas, and interact with an eclectic and diverse group of individuals. It's a fun stage to be in, if you have the right attitude.
Nevertheless, this stage of our lives can also be challenging.
I remember being a kid and being frustrated with the world. I was a little genius, I had all the answers, and I knew how to solve the problems that so often plague our world - but no one would take me seriously!
To most people I was just a kid, unable to think and decide for myself the logical consequences of my actions.
I remember thinking to myself that when I grew up, I would value the voices of children much more than the fools I saw running the world did. I couldn't wait to be an adult; I couldn't wait to be able to do what I wanted when I wanted, and so I anxiously awaited my chance to "grow up."
Then I did. I'm not sure exactly when or how it happened, but I look at myself now and realize I'm not a kid anymore. The irony is delicious. I now know that I was a little fool: I didn't know everything, and I didn't have all the answers. And when I look at the coming youth behind me, I dismiss them as off-handedly as I was dismissed, thus becoming one of the fools I railed against in my childhood.
Furthermore, I actually find myself yearning for my childhood! It seemed it would take forever to grow up because I had no exact concept of time.
I spent my Saturday afternoons playing video games and reading books, hanging out with friends and having a fun time, just doing what I wanted to do. Now that I'm older, I know that it didn't take that long at all, and I often wonder what I could've done with all that time had I known.
I could have learned a musical instrument, become a martial artist, and done all those things that I think are "cool" now.
And for what have I traded all those days of yore, laden with Beast Wars and Metal Gear Solid and the Wheel of Time? Although I don't have all the time in the world anymore, I have gained one important thing: power.
The saying Ben Parker so integrally ingrained in Spider-Man, "With great power comes great responsibility," is well-known, but the converse of that statement is also true. Responsibility is the direct result of the understanding that the actions one takes do matter, and that they are significant enough to have an effect on the world around them.
Many of us have a hard time adjusting to the responsibility of being an adult. We don't want to handle all of the complications and burdens, so we avoid them.
We let others make the decisions and chart the course of our lives because the act of decision-making is difficult, and we'd rather spend our time making ourselves happy.
In doing so, we give others the possibility of running our ships aground. Plato said it best when he said, "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." In other words, "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."
Responsibility may seem like a burden, but it is in fact a blessing. So when it feels like too much and you can't handle anymore, remember: What you do matters and that means you matter.
That, my friends, is a wonderful sentiment. Taking, accepting and embracing responsibility and celebrating it, despite the challenges involved, is the seventh step in finding the meaning of life.
Reach the reporter at: nicholas.vaidyanathan@asu.edu.
