Raver Sustainability: Responsibility
Posted 01-06-09 at 05:12 PM by LilRaverBoi
Being a raver can be a lot of fun. However, it is also essential that this enjoyable part of your life be sustainable. The answer to this is that extra ‘R’ sometimes added to PLUR: RESPONSIBILITY. Life is all about balance. Therefore, to be able to continually enjoy the pleasurable things in life, you also have to do some less-pleasurable things. In fact, performing these less-pleasurable tasks is actually more important than just being able to have fun which is what responsibility is all about.
One definition of responsibility involves holding yourself accountable for your actions. This applies to both the things you do and the things you say. Remember that every action you take and every word you speak is a representation of you as a person. Being hurtful, boastful, lazy or rude does not have a positive effect on your image and, in fact, quite the contrary. You should never act or speak in a way that you will later regret. And once you have acted, you must be honest about it and hold yourself liable for your actions/words. As a part of this form of responsibility, you should present yourself in a mature, competent, honest and helpful manner at all times.
Something that is inherently related to being accountable for your actions is moral living. Being a good person, to the best of your ability will help you in so many facets of life. Most of the basic moral guidelines one should follow are summed up in PLUR. Peace, love, unity and respect are all very important. In addition, honesty, kindness, maturity and helpfulness are all very important to living happily and responsibly. PLUR is not merely something to abide by at raves. It is a permanent lifestyle. It is a way of living every moment of your life, not simply when it’s most convenient or when you choose to.
Another very important factor that comes into play with responsibility is the effort you put into different activities. If you choose to do something, you should give it your full effort and see it through to the end. Nothing should ever be done that you don’t genuinely try your best at. Either do it to the best of your ability, or don’t do it at all. For many things, you don’t have the option of not doing it, so you must give it your full effort. Likewise, if you start something, finish it. Even if you don’t enjoy something, you should give it your all till the task is finished. When it comes to completion, even if you didn’t do amazing, you won’t regret your performance, because you will know you gave it your best shot. Plus, everything is better done well than simply completed to the minimal criteria.
One main aspect of responsibility involves prioritizing. As stated before, having fun requires preparation by completing some less-desirable tasks. It is not self-sustainable. A person who chooses to only do things they enjoy will not get very far in life. Within 5 years (or less) on their own, they likely be unemployed, broke and unhappy unless they take the initiative to be responsible. Therefore, you must organize aspects of life and rank them for importance to ensure the most essential tasks are completed effectively. As far as basic priorities go, family/friends generally will go before anything else. Next on the priority list is education. Beyond that, you must have employment. Once all these three things are completed and sustained, then (and only then) can you really begin to do enjoyable things sustainably. There may be occasional exceptions to these priorities, but the overall trend should remain in the same order.
To expound on these priorities and the various responsibilities involved, therein, we will start with family/friends. These relationships are the support system that prevents you from having to go through life on your own. Independence is vital, but it is also important to have a social support system. Without this, you have no safety net if things go awry which is not a good situation to place yourself in. Therefore, you should always do your best to keep these relationships healthy and intact. You’ll never know how much it can help out till you find yourself in a troubling situation. The main precept here is ‘don’t burn bridges.’
Next in your tentative list of priorities comes education. This is hugely important to a happy life and a successful career. Sure, school might not seem important at the time and yes, it does take a lot of effort and time. Many people see this as a part of their life they would just like to get through and be done with. However, education and learning is not a mere part of your life, but rather, a life-long process. Once you start thinking of education as desirable thing and put it high on your list of priorities, you have taken a large step in the right direction. Getting an education does take some effort, but the most important guidelines to success are mandatory class attendance, punctuality, paying attention, participation, doing your homework and generally giving it your full effort, regardless of interest. If you follow these guidelines, your chances of failure are nearly nonexistent and success is all but imminent. High school seems to be the time when many people find it easy to blow off class to hang out with friends, or to generally not give it your full attention/effort because it’s ‘not fun.’ However, in today’s society, a college degree is nearly essential to get a decent job. So, consider this when you are in class. You should devote your full effort not just because that’s what others expect of you. Rather, you should be giving it your full effort because your performance will help you later in life. Not only will your grades help you get into a good college program but the information you learn will benefit you there and later in life. Much of what you learn may seem useless, but honestly, most of it will be used a lot in your life. Sure, it’s more fun to listen to your ipod or text your friends on your Blackberry, but not only is that inconsistent with your priorities, but it is very irresponsible. Moreover, you are depriving yourself of one of the most important parts of life: knowledge. Getting a good education is not only vital to help obtain and sustain a good occupation but will also help you make good decisions. Moreover, it can lead you to obtain positions you actually ENJOY doing rather than just a means to financial security.
The next important priority is getting employment. When you are young, you are under the financial wing of your parents. However, once you get into adolescence, you must start to go out on your own and begin building your own occupational experience and financial responsibility. This will prepare you to support yourself financially in adulthood. By the age of 16, you should have a regular job. Your first jobs do not have to be anything special, but rather, just a position to gain experience and develop a good work ethic. The income will also allow you to afford your hobbies, begin paying your own expenses and maybe even buy a car. It is important to get as much work experience as you can. Moreover, do your best to give your job your full effort and act respectful to your coworkers and superiors. Keeping a job for 6 months to a year is good experience, in itself. However, when you choose to move on to a new position, you must do so in a respectful and responsible manner. Once again, don’t burn bridges. If you get fired or leave on a bad note, you lose the ability to use that position as a reference for future positions. If done correctly, each job can be utilized as a stepping stone to higher positions. However, if you squander every position, you are continually stuck at the bottom, making it hard to obtain future employment.
Stable employment will lead to financial security. This is a vital part of achieving and sustaining the ability to participate in enjoyable activities. Whether we accept it or not, money is essential to obtain good housing and transportation among other things. Life is full of expenses and bills that need to be paid just to exist. Money does not create happiness, but it is essential for you to continue living so that you can work toward it. Money also aids in being able to do many of those things you enjoy, for example, raving. This is where the importance and prioritization of education and employment comes in. These are placed highly on the list so that you can later achieve, and more importantly, sustain those enjoyable activities in your life. Life isn’t all fun, but it isn’t all work either. You should work hard and play hard. But work needs to come before play.
Life is full of many enjoyable experiences. However, in order to be able to participate in these pleasurable and rewarding activities repeatedly, you must first fulfill other obligations and responsibilities. If you prioritize the aspects of your life correctly, give everything your full effort and finish that which you begin, you will be able to enjoy a life full of happiness and good times. Realize that life is not without its toils, but these are all necessary to sustain the desirable aspects. Indulging solely in pleasure may lead to immediate satisfaction, but in order to sustain this ability over a lifetime, you must prioritize, taking action on certain aspects of life to maintain others.
One definition of responsibility involves holding yourself accountable for your actions. This applies to both the things you do and the things you say. Remember that every action you take and every word you speak is a representation of you as a person. Being hurtful, boastful, lazy or rude does not have a positive effect on your image and, in fact, quite the contrary. You should never act or speak in a way that you will later regret. And once you have acted, you must be honest about it and hold yourself liable for your actions/words. As a part of this form of responsibility, you should present yourself in a mature, competent, honest and helpful manner at all times.
Something that is inherently related to being accountable for your actions is moral living. Being a good person, to the best of your ability will help you in so many facets of life. Most of the basic moral guidelines one should follow are summed up in PLUR. Peace, love, unity and respect are all very important. In addition, honesty, kindness, maturity and helpfulness are all very important to living happily and responsibly. PLUR is not merely something to abide by at raves. It is a permanent lifestyle. It is a way of living every moment of your life, not simply when it’s most convenient or when you choose to.
Another very important factor that comes into play with responsibility is the effort you put into different activities. If you choose to do something, you should give it your full effort and see it through to the end. Nothing should ever be done that you don’t genuinely try your best at. Either do it to the best of your ability, or don’t do it at all. For many things, you don’t have the option of not doing it, so you must give it your full effort. Likewise, if you start something, finish it. Even if you don’t enjoy something, you should give it your all till the task is finished. When it comes to completion, even if you didn’t do amazing, you won’t regret your performance, because you will know you gave it your best shot. Plus, everything is better done well than simply completed to the minimal criteria.
One main aspect of responsibility involves prioritizing. As stated before, having fun requires preparation by completing some less-desirable tasks. It is not self-sustainable. A person who chooses to only do things they enjoy will not get very far in life. Within 5 years (or less) on their own, they likely be unemployed, broke and unhappy unless they take the initiative to be responsible. Therefore, you must organize aspects of life and rank them for importance to ensure the most essential tasks are completed effectively. As far as basic priorities go, family/friends generally will go before anything else. Next on the priority list is education. Beyond that, you must have employment. Once all these three things are completed and sustained, then (and only then) can you really begin to do enjoyable things sustainably. There may be occasional exceptions to these priorities, but the overall trend should remain in the same order.
To expound on these priorities and the various responsibilities involved, therein, we will start with family/friends. These relationships are the support system that prevents you from having to go through life on your own. Independence is vital, but it is also important to have a social support system. Without this, you have no safety net if things go awry which is not a good situation to place yourself in. Therefore, you should always do your best to keep these relationships healthy and intact. You’ll never know how much it can help out till you find yourself in a troubling situation. The main precept here is ‘don’t burn bridges.’
Next in your tentative list of priorities comes education. This is hugely important to a happy life and a successful career. Sure, school might not seem important at the time and yes, it does take a lot of effort and time. Many people see this as a part of their life they would just like to get through and be done with. However, education and learning is not a mere part of your life, but rather, a life-long process. Once you start thinking of education as desirable thing and put it high on your list of priorities, you have taken a large step in the right direction. Getting an education does take some effort, but the most important guidelines to success are mandatory class attendance, punctuality, paying attention, participation, doing your homework and generally giving it your full effort, regardless of interest. If you follow these guidelines, your chances of failure are nearly nonexistent and success is all but imminent. High school seems to be the time when many people find it easy to blow off class to hang out with friends, or to generally not give it your full attention/effort because it’s ‘not fun.’ However, in today’s society, a college degree is nearly essential to get a decent job. So, consider this when you are in class. You should devote your full effort not just because that’s what others expect of you. Rather, you should be giving it your full effort because your performance will help you later in life. Not only will your grades help you get into a good college program but the information you learn will benefit you there and later in life. Much of what you learn may seem useless, but honestly, most of it will be used a lot in your life. Sure, it’s more fun to listen to your ipod or text your friends on your Blackberry, but not only is that inconsistent with your priorities, but it is very irresponsible. Moreover, you are depriving yourself of one of the most important parts of life: knowledge. Getting a good education is not only vital to help obtain and sustain a good occupation but will also help you make good decisions. Moreover, it can lead you to obtain positions you actually ENJOY doing rather than just a means to financial security.
The next important priority is getting employment. When you are young, you are under the financial wing of your parents. However, once you get into adolescence, you must start to go out on your own and begin building your own occupational experience and financial responsibility. This will prepare you to support yourself financially in adulthood. By the age of 16, you should have a regular job. Your first jobs do not have to be anything special, but rather, just a position to gain experience and develop a good work ethic. The income will also allow you to afford your hobbies, begin paying your own expenses and maybe even buy a car. It is important to get as much work experience as you can. Moreover, do your best to give your job your full effort and act respectful to your coworkers and superiors. Keeping a job for 6 months to a year is good experience, in itself. However, when you choose to move on to a new position, you must do so in a respectful and responsible manner. Once again, don’t burn bridges. If you get fired or leave on a bad note, you lose the ability to use that position as a reference for future positions. If done correctly, each job can be utilized as a stepping stone to higher positions. However, if you squander every position, you are continually stuck at the bottom, making it hard to obtain future employment.
Stable employment will lead to financial security. This is a vital part of achieving and sustaining the ability to participate in enjoyable activities. Whether we accept it or not, money is essential to obtain good housing and transportation among other things. Life is full of expenses and bills that need to be paid just to exist. Money does not create happiness, but it is essential for you to continue living so that you can work toward it. Money also aids in being able to do many of those things you enjoy, for example, raving. This is where the importance and prioritization of education and employment comes in. These are placed highly on the list so that you can later achieve, and more importantly, sustain those enjoyable activities in your life. Life isn’t all fun, but it isn’t all work either. You should work hard and play hard. But work needs to come before play.
Life is full of many enjoyable experiences. However, in order to be able to participate in these pleasurable and rewarding activities repeatedly, you must first fulfill other obligations and responsibilities. If you prioritize the aspects of your life correctly, give everything your full effort and finish that which you begin, you will be able to enjoy a life full of happiness and good times. Realize that life is not without its toils, but these are all necessary to sustain the desirable aspects. Indulging solely in pleasure may lead to immediate satisfaction, but in order to sustain this ability over a lifetime, you must prioritize, taking action on certain aspects of life to maintain others.
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