What are you/we really working for?

When was the last time someone asked you where your drive comes from? What are your motivations? What makes you who you are when compared to everyone else? Do these things matter to you? What matters? What makes a difference in your life? My response is Me. Taking everything into consideration, the most rational response, as there are no definite answers to these types of questions, is Me. Despite everything I have experienced in life and everything that I have learned through K-12 and six years of "higher" education, I have come to the realization that none of it really matters unless you use it all to your advantage. Being unemployed for seven months, I have come to many realizations about myself, the world in which I live but am barely part, and the capitalistic system under which we are governed, live by, and die by. The reason I ask what it is that makes you who you are is because I am constantly searching; searching for something that will make some sense now and benefit me in the long run.

I have come to grips with ambition, motivations, nature vs. nurture, what my "higher" education has taught me, in addition to what the educational system has no taught me. It comes down to where I will be and how I will favor in years beyond the next decade. Have I not done what I was told, in terms of doing what is right, getting good grades, and being above average in everything that I do, including education? Where does any of this put me? What I am coming to realize more and more each day is that I must learn and function in such a way that I am ambivalent to the "normal" or "typical" way of doing things. In an ever-changing world and socioeconomic marketplace, I realize that it is not up to what your parents have taught you and told you do. Life, simplified, of course, is very much what you make of it. Some leave high school thinking they will join the armed forces to find camaraderie and some promise of upward mobility, a pension, excellent benefits, and an early retirement in inactive duty. Others pursue college and university-level studies, hoping to join the masses in receiving a similar package to what the military offers--stability, and the opportunity to grow.

As time passes, however, no matter what your profession is, and no matter how long you did, or did not, go to school for, individuals are no longer "safe" in their plans. As not to delve completely into the state of our economic situation, I foresee that many will anticipate, acknowledge, should welcome, and, furthermore, realize that change needs to take place. To echo Gandhi, perhaps people are awakening to the realization that we must first "Be the change [we] want to see in the world." As I see it, as do many others, we must realize this in our own ways through the trials and tribulations we experience on our own course or path to...what, really? What are we all working for? Sure, survival, to make a paycheck, to pay our bills, to contribute to our slumping and barely nonexistent 401Ks, to pay for those who, in some way or another, cannot provide enough for themselves. But, not matter the situation, profession, passion, or pursuit, we are working for money. Think about all of these things, as, perhaps, many of us never have before.

As I've recently been involved in writing books on success and how to make money, I am, more and more, thinking about all of these elements. We cannot escape capitalism; and, I feel, we must embrace it. I could continue typing with many thoughts on these elements which play an integral role, in not only our daily lives, but also the system we are a part and love, in some ways, yet are slaves to.

Even as a "cafeteria Catholic," I have always thought of things in terms of Marxism. Some of you, who may be more familiar with philosophy and literary theory, perhaps would label this way of thinking as "New Marxism." Perhaps, I realize and acknowledge all of the above, but that doesn't necessarily mean I, or we, have to accept it. Capitalism, as I see it, is not going anywhere anytime soon. However, the way we contribute to, think about, and counteract with this manmade construct should be in a manner that is well-informed and calculated. No matter your current education level, profession, or sought-after education level and professional field, we must all ask ourselves "What am I really working for?"

More to come...