Written by: Aman Bastola - 25004, Grade XI
Posted on: 09 February, 2024
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own” -Marcus Aurelius
“The fear of being judged” is the fear that keeps us in chains and holds us from achieving our true potential. This fear alone has destroyed many potentials of a human being. For instance in the beginning of human civilization a human needed another human for food, shelter and to protect one another from predators, even now that our society has evolved to a point where we no longer have to worry about predators and we have the resources to provide us food, shelter and clothing, they need to be part of a group/society still has been maladapted. Then came the time where we were scared of the cold and the dark. Today we are scared of being canceled on twitter or being commented on Facebook because of something we said or even being insulted for posting pictures wearing the same dress on instagram. This feeling of being ostracized has worsened due to social media like for example the like and dislike button created the feeling of being validated and seen by others. Watching the numbers go up can be addicting to the point where we stop saying the stuff we really want to say, stop posting the pictures we want to post and start writing our opinion, posting our pictures to earn “fame” and to earn validity by some strangers on the internet and to be “seen”.
Caring about what others think is healthy, but it becomes hurtful when we try to change ourselves just to be liked by others. The problem today is we are taking criticism from people we wouldn’t even take advice from. In today’s modern society there is freedom of speech, but only when your microphone is turned off because today people don’t speak about their opinion freely in open mics rather write about it in social media anonymously because they have a constant fear of being judged, canceled and to fit in this society full of lies. If you wouldn’t let a stranger into your house for fear of invading your privacy, why would you let them into your head which is the most private place or all? The problem is that when you are different, friends and family don’t interact with you anymore, and that is hard to bear for many. This is the reason many people change their opinion just to be “validated”. We shouldn’t take to heart what other people say about you if they aren’t very close to you because you cannot please everyone.
Thus the title concludes with the idea of having the resilience and inner fortitude to endure being disliked by others while maintaining a sense of dignity and composure. I remember a closing note here: “Care about people’s approval, and you’ll be their prisoner”
