Watery Eyes, Blurry Vision

"Think about it: There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of." (Wallace 2)
This statement is nothing but the truth. It is inevitable but everything you've experienced in life, you are the main character. Even if you didn't play the most important role, you can only tell the story based off of your own emotions and thoughts at the time. A realization like this is something that I constantly forget to consider, and as David Foster Wallace said, "we have to keep
reminding ourselves, over and over: 'This is water, this is water.'" (Wallace 8) Simple awareness is key, and it is crucial to remember that although you might be having a bad day, the person next to you could also by having a hard time. A difficult as it is, it is necessary for everyone, including myself, to reach out and hear others' perspectives and to not only wallow inside your own world. This method of going about with your life will be the only way to stay alive and conscious day after day until the time of death. Another idea I came to understand while reading Wallace's speech was that "Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship." (Wallace 7) He discusses how if you worship money, you will never have enough, or if you worship beauty, you will always believe you're ugly. This truth was one that hit home for me. Going to the "world class" school of Troy High, anything you do never seems to be enough. Everyone is outdoing each other right and left. I would never even think do consider myself on the same level as people like Marvin Jiang or Shannon Lin. And although in reality I actually am not even close to being as accomplished as they are, I think the important message here is that, instead of focusing on what you are not, it is important to focus on what you can do now - here, in the present.