Editorial: Being Genuine
Welcome back, ye brave students of Mount Royal University, willing to face the destitute of winter semester and all the cold mornings that come with it.
It’s also the beginning of resolution season on campus, where students spend the first month of the year pretending to be the student/person/athlete they wish they were.
This brings up an interesting point: Why do we feel we need to make wholesale changes in our lives because of an arbitrary date.
What brings about a global level of self-loathing so that people feel they need to change every single one of their habits all at once?
Well luckily for you, the Reflector has the philosophical answer for you resolution folk fighting the 5 a.m. go-for-a-run-blues.
Sleep in. Have a drink. Go to church. Get exercise. Eat well. Eat poorly. Do whatever you need to do to feel good about yourself. Just don’t pressure yourself to do it all before noon every day.
It’s rather tired advice to always hear “everything in moderation.” Perhaps a better way to think of societal behavior is to focus on being genuine.
Do you want to fall asleep every day thinking you really impressed all the strangers you encountered today, or do you want to feel like you acted like yourself from the first breath to the last breath you took that day?
It’s exhausting and impossible to live up to the standards set by the faceless masses. Instead, impress yourself today.
Don’t feel fat. Don’t feel unproductive. Don’t feel like you need to change everything in your life you are to be like other people. Don’t reinforce your life with negative stereotypes that are untrue and paralyzing.
Everyone at Mount Royal has value and a simple conversation can change the faceless into a genuine friend.
Everyone has a story and we want to hear them at the ‘Flec. Come down to Z002 in Wyckham house every Tuesday at 12 p.m. and tell us yours.
– The Reflector Staff
