Article by: Leslie Harold

It is certain that people live in a superficial world. What makes a world superficial, you may ask? There is no doubt that America worships celebrities. This, sadly, includes Hollywood actors, musicians, and even people who are only famous for being famous.  In my opinion, the life-saving doctors who work those 20 hour days at Mass General are the real celebrities; but that is beside the point. We, as Americans, care more about insignificant material things and people than we do about feeding those who are hungry. We care more about sports than about politics. We care more about the insignificant lives of celebrities than about worldly affairs.  And we have more panic attacks about messy hair than we do about those people on the other side of the world barely surviving a natural disaster. How did we become such a dumb America?  We the people have made it so.

Superficial thoughts are embedded in our subconscious at such an early age, that we consequently grow up shallow, valuing the insignificant things in life. Our generation is significantly worse, as we are constantly exposed to new technological advances and bad media. We have clearly lost sight as to what is really important in life and it is disgraceful.  Life is not all about the glitz and glitter, but rather our intrinsic values; that is what makes us who we really are. Values like being respectful, integrity, kindness and compassion are what really count. Unfortunately people lose sight of these every day and are hurting people as a result. I feel as though there is just too much emphasis on outer beauty, the greed for fame, and the quest for power and status in our lives these days. People will do anything to acquire these superficial standards, but it’s not something to strive for.

However, striving to success the right way by working hard is something to aim for. Knowing the value of a dollar is a great knowledge to possess. One does not need to lie, cheat or steal to get to the top. It will only catch up to you in the end.  These are the principles that truly define life and people who choose to live their lives immorally are simply irritating. I don’t understand why people feel as though they have to lure themselves into the lives of the rich and famous to feel good. It is not a way to live.  True success in life is defined in how we are internally. If we are not happy with ourselves inside, how can we progress?  How can we try to help others if we can’t help ourselves? Being happy with who we are as individuals is essential and is what defines true happiness. We must value the good things in life first in order to be successful.  No abundance of money, fame, or materialistic possessions can substitute this.  If you measure your success by fame and possessions, you are doing it for the wrong reasons and are weakening your own success.  Because at the end of the day, it is what we contribute to society, how we help people and the relationships we have with one another that really count. So stay true to yourselves and value the good things in life and you will be successful.