College essay
We have all suffered at one point in our lives, but have we ever been affected by war? Having to say goodbye to a loved one and then having them sent away to fight a battle with the possibility of never returning from the war, I imagine this is one of the worst feelings a human could experience. What if they never are sent away? What if this war is right where we live? What if the war is in our communities because of mental illness, lack of leadership, technology, etc. and not weapons?
Many people face a war every single day, and many of us do so without even realizing it because our society tries to make us believe everything is perfect and in control. We never really know anymore if we are going to lose a loved one on any given day since approximately 36,000 people in the U.S. die from the use of guns every year, nearly 100 per day. These deaths are a result of how readily available weapons are to everyone. However, mental illness has presented many people with a new kind of war because of internal conflicts going on in individual people. Some people are telling themselves that everything is just fine when, in reality, it is not because they may be hiding their pain since the world tells everyone to expect perfection. At the same time, it eats away at them and causes some people to become more violent in thought, but possibly in action as well. Technology and the internet has opened a whole new world of trouble.
If people have an internal emotional war within and are trying to hide behind something, whether that be a screen via social media, a sport, their grades, then often, the community may experience some ‘war’ and ‘violence’. Reading the newspaper shows us that there is physical violence and gun violence daily and that the numbers have risen in recent decades. We see this in many of our communities, some of which are plagued with petty theft, stabbings, and shootings.
The people in leadership positions who are trying to make a change are trying to change other people and are telling other people what is wrong with them, but in truth, they should start with themselves since the problem is sometimes rooted in them as well and everyone looks to them for advice and leadership. We expect good character in our leaders. Your character is controllable; you can choose how to conduct yourself. If everyone focuses on themselves first, instead of judging and trying to fix others, our communities might be a better place. The violence and hatred that we see so commonly in communities today would, at least in part be fixed because the people within those communities may not be suffering if they focus on helping themselves first. The community as a whole would be happier since the people living in it are happier and more content with themselves.
One of the biggest reasons for a person’s internal strife could be social media and it is definitely a problem for my peers, teens. People can hide behind a screen telling the world (and themselves) that they are perfect by what pictures they post, who is following them, or how many likes they get on their photos. In reality, many people may be tearing themselves up because of what they see in other people, and knowing that they are being fake and hiding from their problems, and they see that maybe other people’s lives are great, so they then have a fear of not being good enough. People end up overthinking and causing wars within themselves between their emotions since they are constantly comparing themselves to other people and are continually being pulled in a million directions by what they see on social media and the time spent online. This inner strife that plagues so many people in our modern culture is one of the primary roots of the violence and hatred that we see around us in so many places today. Social media, among many other things, is a distraction that can lead to inner struggles among people who use social media in the wrong way. Authenticity is paramount; this means being human and having active face to face relationships. Good leaders connect with people, invest in people, and build-up people. To make an impact on people and to be a good leader, first, focus onwar