Motivation

Thanks to the countless sacrifices of our ancestors and family, we currently live in a relatively peaceful and free country, the United States of America. As Abraham Lincoln suggested in his Gettysburg Address, let us carry on the good work such that the our soldiers will not have died in vain.

Sometimes, due to our environmental influences (such as a selfish or rude person on a bus or the internet), we may get cynical and complacent. However, we should strive to model the good behavior we hope to see in society. You can put a stop to badness and evil starting today. As people tend to mimic other’s behaviors, we can start a virtuous cycle of love and gratitude.

Though you may not notice it, people may look up to you as a role model. You may have a bigger impact on other people’s lives than you may think. For instance, I regularly review my list of friends, mentors, and inspiring public figures whom I admire and try to emulate some of their key traits and principles. Looking back at my high school yearbook, I’m struck by how many of my friends and teachers noted how my work ethic was inspiring. Similarly, think about what trait stands out about one of your close friends and how that may have affected your outlook on life. What ideal would you like to be remembered for?

Your children and future generations will feel the effects of your actions, perhaps in complex and unexpected ways, like the butterfly effect of increasing magnitude. According to some research, your children may likely end up at similar levels of socio-economic status as you are in. If you work a bit harder, your family may gain more happiness. At the end of their lives, people often say their close relationships are what matters most. Your hopeful imagination, moral courage, and discipline can make a lasting legacy reverberate around you and the universe.

As an inspiring example, Eric Sellen describes Beethoven’s fifth symphony: “The superhuman creative energy that produced his great heroic works of that decade had never been heard in music before. One colossal path-breaking work followed another, combining unearthly beauty of invention, technical virtuosity, vastness of conception, and a radical freedom of expression and form.”