Hello blogosphere.
Like I said earlier in my first post, I am a college student. A rising sophomore to be precise. And like any other college student, I have quite a bit of writing ahead of me, although, I do like to write. Its one of my better qualities, something I think I'm decent at. And when Journalism is one of your majors, it helps a little.Well I was filling out some essays for scholarships and I'd figured I'd post them. The one I am posting now was a short one. The rules were: 500 words or less, and the topic was a prompt they gave. Its unaltered from when I submitted it, but I think it could be a lot better. Anyways, here it is:
What is Principle and How are principles important in your life?
What is a principle, and how are they important in my life. Well, principles, by definition are the basic truths, rules, and standards by which a person forms his or her character off of. In truth, they are a little more complex than that. I personally consider principles to be more related to a persons morals. They almost work hand in hand. Like morals they give us substance to justify our actions by. They are the hidden rules books buried deep within our subconscious, only truthfully surfacing when we are face with a great dilemma.
Let's say you found a twenty dollar bill on the ground. The problem that challenges our principles, and morals, would be either to look for the bill's owner or pocket the money and be about your merry way. Now this situation isn't a "great dilemma" of sorts, but it is a simplified way of looking at principles without getting into some hot topics. Now, back to the question. What is a principle, it can't just be your morals and your own personal rules to life. Adding to my polygonal concept of principles, they are also one of the barriers separating right from wrong. I think that one thing most people consider principles to be, are set facts. Rules and laws that cannot be changed, like the principle of jet propulsion. But when dealing with the human condition, things are never set stone like that. This is why principles are one of the barriers separating, and often determining right from wrong. They are flexible and sometimes fickle things that allow us to judge...everything. This is what also allows us to be rather biased in certain situations.
Now you might be thinking, this is a rather lengthy report on morals, principles, right and wrong e.t.c. Well, to me, those are the things that make up principles, and vice versa. I cannot talk about principle with out morals and all the others, nor can I talk about them with out talking about principles. What may help understand my view point is changing the perspective on it. The same way principles can be applied to life changing situations, can be applied to opening the car door for a lady to enter, or pulling out the seat for her at the dinner table. The reason I didn't start simple with those analogies is because they are not set. You don't always remember to pull the seat out for the girl, or open the car door. But I suppose you would you would always choose to either keep that twenty or try and find the owner.
Principle are also always important. In my life, they guide my decisions, and lead me to the best course action. Its a little synonymous with Moses, in the bible, climbing the mountain to receive the ten commandments. In the same way, our conscious mind scales the peaks and valleys of our brain to retrieve its commandments, its rules, from our subconscious and true self.
