Throughout life every individual is forced to make a decision and will struggle with what they must do to restore honour and certainty. As with any decision there are many different outcomes that could occur after struggling with the decision. Some may not understand how to answer this difficult question due to the fact that they have not been in a situation which demands a choice like this to be made. Therefore this question is similar to a math question in which the answer is hard to obtain and getting to it seems purely theoretical instead of having any relevance to their real and current life.
Presently, I feel that I am in a situation very similar to this. The question posed is something that I know should occur in life but because I have yet to encounter a situation that changes my life and forces me to change my perspectives to restore my honour and certainty it doesn’t feel real to me. So, since I have not been faced with a major situation in which I have had to make such a decision I will attempt to answer this question with a minor situation that has occurred in my short life that I believe to be an example of what is to come as I continue to live my life.
In the poem “Setting up the Drums”, written by Don McKay, music is used to restore his perspectives. In McKay’s case music was what he was passionate about and what he strived to do well at. Music was what helped him sort out his life and all the challenges that accompanied it. By having something like music that is important to you it helps you look at things in a new way, helps you understand what the right thing to do is, even in the hardest of situations. When you are passionate about something it allows you to straighten out a challenge so that it doesn’t feel so intimidating and overwhelming.
Like with the decision that has to be made by all individuals, everyone also has something that they are passionate about to help them make this decision. Some may be interested in music, like McKay, or drama while others could be more passionate about sports or education. Every individual is unique and therefore has unique interests. I developed a passion for racing this past summer, and with this new interest came a new perspective on how to restore honour and certainty.
I have been a very competitive person and when I do not achieve the standard that I expected of myself I am disappointed in my performance. When I was getting ready for my first 100 foot shootout my standards were not very high. It was my first car race and I was not expecting much out of the situation except for having fun and trying something new. This expectation changed very quickly after receiving my first place trophy for the weekend. Not only had I won the very first race that I had ever entered but I had fallen in love with the thrill of racing. From that point on it was my primary objective to not only attend every 100 foot shootout but to do very well in each one. This very high standard only rose with each win that I received. I was even able to win at Rocky Mountain House, an event that had rules that didn’t give the benefit to my car.
When the season was nearing the end, I decided to try auto crossing. Since I had done so well in the 100 foot shootouts I had similar expectations to the expectations that I had developed while racing in the 100 foot shootouts. I had lowered them a bit because I knew that the auto cross would be different than what I had done so well at, however my standards were still fairly high. After completing the weekend my perspectives were completely changed. I placed second last over the weekend and it was difficult for me to be okay with that considering I’m a competitive person. This is what changed my perspectives on what must be done to restore honour and certainty.
I had to make the decision whether I would either be disappointed with where I placed over the weekend or if I would enjoy and be proud of what I had accomplished instead of always needing to be first at whatever I did. I chose to enjoy what I had accomplished and accept the fact that I didn’t always have to be the best, accept that there wasn’t anything wrong with coming in second last. This decision changed my definition of honour and certainty. Prior to this event which changed my perspectives, my definition of honour was being the best at whatever I did, however coming in second last allowed me to understand that there was no shame in placing where I did. I knew that I had tried my hardest and just as importantly I had had the best weekend ever. I couldn’t wait for the next auto cross so that I could do it again.
I realized that honour, for me, was not about how well I did but how much fun I had. I no longer had the pressure of meeting my high expectations, I could relax and have fun just racing not worrying about where I finished at the end of the day. Without these expectations I was even able to do better because I didn’t have the pressure on me. This also applied to my life outside of racing. If I just did the best that I could instead of worrying about having to be at a certain mark in school, for example, I could relax and take the pressure off of me that I had to be first in everything that I did to be honourable. I was able to understand that my definition of honour had changed from having to be number one to being about trying my hardest at everything that I did.
This situation also refined my perspectives on certainty. I believed that certainty was all about knowing that I had to be number one or I hadn’t done something right. I learned that certainty could be, knowing that I was going to give my one hundred percent effort and what ever happened after that, happened; if I had tried my hardest then I couldn’t do anything else to change the outcome.
Like me, every person on this planet has at least one thing that they are passionate about and it will change their perspectives and definitions of honour and certainty. For some their perspectives may change as mine did however for others it could be the opposite of how my ideas about honour and certainty changed. When you are passionate and good at something it could help you see that honour is about placing first because you are the best at whatever you are doing; it could be about trying your hardest and that landing you in first every single time.
Certainty for some could be, knowing that because you are that best that there is you will always be able to get whatever you want. For others certainty could be, knowing that your passion is enough for you, that you don’t have to be rich and famous as long as you have something that makes you completely and utterly happy in life.
McKay wrote about music, and how it restored his perspectives, changing his ideas about honour and certainty. Although music is not the passion of every human being, every human being will find something, at one point or another, in their life that they don’t want to stop doing, something that when they aren’t doing it they are thinking about it. These things are what shape our ideas about what it means to restore honour and certainty. These are the things that help us understand how to answer the question: In what ways do individuals struggle to restore honour and certainty? Our ideas will change as we develop our passions in life, however we will always have, even in the smallest of magnitudes, an idea about how to restore honour and certainty. Since we will always have opinions about this subject there will always be the need to ask the question, and so it will continued to be asked and the answers will develop along with the developing species of humans.
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