Philosophy of life Essay Example for Free

Philosophy of life Essay There is only one way to live and achieve a meaningful life, and can be acquired by looking inside yourself and determining what is the best things you can do in your life. There are endless suggestions on how to live a meaningful life; however, these are not necessary guides or the only way because each person is different. This means that there is no one way that is correct or no one way that is false because each person is unique in their own way and have varying perspectives of life. According to Jobs, life is about living to connect the dots. He says that you can only connect the dots by looking back at decisions and things that have happened and that you cannot connect the dots for the future. He also says that you tell yourself that to live to connect the dots and that what you’re doing is setting up a dot to be connected that is when you can go with heart. He went to college and dropped out after six months and started going to classes that he was interested in instead of going to classes that were demanded and he did not enjoy. One of the classes he went to was a calligraphy class. He says that if he had not dropped out and went to this class that he would not have been so successful with the Mac. Jobs stressed the idea that without the inspirations attained in calligraphy class that were used in the design of Macintosh all personal computers would be non-existent because Windows copied Macintosh. Jobs may have started Apple in his garage with his friend but within ten years it became a $2 billion company. Shortly after the ten years, contradicting visions led to the divergence of the company and the firing of Steve Jobs. In the fall of his old job Jobs created two new companies, NeXT and Pixar, which both became very well-known and successful companies. Pixar, now the most successful animation studio in the world, went on to create the first computer animated movie â€Å"Toy Story. † NeXT was bought by Apple leading to the return of Jobs and the technology he developed at NeXT is now the heart of Apple’s renaissance. He rounds out this speech with the idea everyone should strive for what makes them happy, doing the things they enjoy. He also rejoices in the fact that enjoying the things he loves now motivated his comeback and redeemed himself in the public eye. Wallace’s speech was focused on finding a personal, deeper meaning. He gives a variety of examples of frustrating moments, while providing insight on how we react. For example: he talks about a woman in line yelling at her kids. To most people they think that’s how she treats her kids all the time leading to some misinterpretation. Instead of thinking that way, he provides alternate cases she might be dealing with, such as, suffering from extreme stress due to her husbands’ bone cancer or maybe she extended an act of kindness at her work for an individual dealing with tough circumstances. He talks about the roughness of everyday adult life, explaining the need to not jump to conclusions and extending grace, making the situation a much happier one. Wallace is not trying to give moral advice or strict guidelines to follow because this can become difficult, he only wants to give noteworthy insight to a stressful situation. He then goes on to talk about worship. Wallace explains how, in his opinion, atheism does not exist due to the fact everyone worships something, demolishing the basis behind atheism. The only choice individuals get to decide is the things they worship. If one chooses to worship money then they will never have enough of it; if one chooses to worship their body then they will always think that they are ugly and will never be happy. He says that the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they are sinful, but rather they are unconscious default settings. This type of worship allows beings to slip into a more lax way of thinking causing them to be more selective without ever being fully aware of what they are doing. Jobs’ approach to a skilled life is finding something one is passionate about doing and doing it no matter the route one takes. He dropped out of college after six months and just dropped-in on classes that sounded interesting to him. He found something that he really enjoyed in calligraphy class leading him to design the Macintosh and which ultimately led to the creation of personal computers. He loves the adaptability of technology and discovering the next best thing. Also, he stresses that connecting the dots is big because it leads you to your hearts desires. So according to Jobs, finding something that you love doing and living to connect the dots is the key to a prosperous, fulfilling life. According to Wallace, the approach to a more prosperous life is to think things through in a deeper more educated meaning. He talks about moments in our lives where we may get frustrated and what we can do to prevent from getting so mad. So overall, they are trying to convey the same message which is: obtaining a skillful and prosperous life. To me, I feel as though what makes life meaningful is living it to the fullest and learning from mistakes. I do not necessarily agree or disagree with either Jobs or Wallace ideals because they are not the main things to achieve a prosperous life but they are good things to incorporate in life. Life is so much more than finding something that you enjoy doing because I enjoy playing Xbox but that is not going to get me anywhere in life. Also, it is more than just thinking deeply about situations when I am going to get frustrated. I say you should always take opportunities presented in your life, not allowing them to pass you by. Take opportunities the first time and don’t be impassive assuming there will be another. With these opportunities there is always the decision to side between right and wrong. Now, I hope that everyone has a strong enough will to be able to pick the good opportunities rather than the bad ones. If you have a chance to make a difference in someone’s life or can change the outcome of a situation then why be passive and not pursue it? Life is all about choices and decision making. These things also come with responsibility and the decisions you make will lead to positive or negative consequences. Everyone makes bad choices in their life because no one is perfect and we are fallen people. With this falleness comes sin and with sin comes destruction, but we are given the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and continue to grow through them. All of these life situations leads us to be a better person to ourselves, others, and God. In order to live a thriving life, one must make conscious decisions, learn from their mistakes, and thank the Lord for opportunities and learning experiences. There is no guide on how to live a meaningful life. It is all up to the individual and whatever they see fit for themselves and their life. Though I have this view, it does not mean that it is the only way to live a meaningful life, the same goes for Jobs’ and Wallace’s opinions. Each person has some ideals that everyone can draw from to make their life better and happier, but it is not necessarily the only way to achieve a meaningful life. The true way to achieve a meaningful life is to look deep inside oneself and decide how to accomplish one’s own meaning prosperous life.