Can someone change your life - Essay Example

Can someone change your life? OUTLINE I. Introduction: background, thesis II. Life Style: changes in life style and learning things III. Responsibility: taking more responsibility for family actions IV. Life Perspective: importance of life and meaning V. Conclusion I was a careless boy, but in one day all my life changed. The person who changed my life was my brother. Because of his bad accident when he crashed the track. Now he can’t walk because he has some problem in his back, but the good thing is that he is still alive. I thought I wasn’t going to change forever at that time. However, he changed three important things in my life, such as my life style, my sense of responsibility, and my view of life. One of the effects of my brother accident is, now I can rely on myself. I was reckless boy, and I was doing everything in the easy way. When I wanted something, I asked my brother, and he would do whatever I asked. After what happened, I became more serious because I couldn’t find someone who can do my requirement. What happened helped me to change, and now I can do what I want without need for anyone. This was a major change for me because I had in great part relied on other individuals to help me through life. In these regards, there were a great amount of daily tasks that I took for granted. For instance, simple things like fixing my car I never took care of, because I had always relied on my brother whenever there was a problem that was needed. For instance, I recall one incident where we were driving to visit a family friend. During the trip one of the tires went out on our car. My brother immediately got out of the vehicle, opened the trunk, and began to change the tire. After my brother’s accident he was not able to accomplish tasks such of this. A few months after his accident we were driving to visit another individual and a tire went out on the vehicle. For an instant I looked to my brother expecting him to jump out of the car and change the tire, but instead came to realize that this time I would have to learn how. We rolled the window down and my brother explained to me the exact steps I needed to take in order to change the tire. This was I learned the process and would be able to accomplish it in future situations. While this situation with changing tires is one incident, it reflects the large change that took place in my life after my brother’s accident. Slowly, I began to learn a large amount of skills that I had never had to learn before. My life had truly changed. From this point on I would no longer be able to simply watch television or engage in random past-time activities. My new life-style involved becoming more active in day-to-day activities. I learned to become more engaged in daily activities. While this took up my time, it also changed the very way I structured my days. I recognized that now I needed to ensure that my homework was done in an efficient way, as I would need to aid my family in a variety of ways. Ultimately, my life changed in drastic ways after my brother’s accident, as I had to fill in areas in which my brother had previously occupied. The second thing I learned was to take greater responsibility for my family and household actions. My brother is older than me, and he was caring for everything. After the accident I need to be responsible about everything he had been taking care of. Although, it wasn’t easy at first, because I didn’t use to have all this responsibility like to care of the home, family, and study. Now everything is normal and easy because I became familiar with it. However, at first things came as a great surprise to me as I was not aware of the many things that I had not learned, which my brother handled. Indeed, it was a major awakening experience to me. Many times in life I believe it is possible for humans to become complacent and fall into a way of living that doesn’t realize the full scope of their surroundings. I recognize that before my brother’s accident this was the world I had come to live in. After my brother’s accident, things changed drastically. I began to recognize that there was much about life and responsibility that I previously was not aware. As the days passed and my family grew increasingly frustrated, I slowly learned to begin taking increased amounts of responsibility. From extremely small, to very large aspects of life, I had to change. Even simple things like walking and feeding the family dog I had to begin to take responsibility for. While I had done so intermittently in the past, the responsibility increasingly fell on my shoulders, as my brother was not able to help. Many other aspects had to change as well. While I had previously cleaned my room, I increasingly found myself needing to aid with daily household cleaning chores. While I had to take greater responsibility for things that I had not previously known or had to do, I also recognize that because of my brother’s handicap I would have to aid him in accomplishing a variety of tasks. While I didn’t believe this would be a major challenge, I came to realize that some tasks that previously were simple now came to pose significant challenges. For instance, simply aiding my brother in and out of the car was a timely process. Other examples occurred in restaurants and department stores. While these stores all had handicap access, general issues and challenges still surfaced in accomplishing regular tasks like finding places to sit and navigating the store. Ultimately, I learned to take further responsibility for my actions and to help out in situations I previously had not been expected to help out in. The last thing of the effects of my brother accident is, my view of life has really changed. Live today, die tomorrow: I was living in this way. I didn’t know what’s the meaning of the life was. Now I know what its mean, and I should live to many causes, my family especially. Also, to support my brother in his situation. Now I have my causes to live, and I should continue my life to feel satisfied about myself. Indeed, before my brother’s accident I had viewed life as almost never-ending. I came to reflect on the nature of my brother’s accident and recognized that if things had been slightly different he could have easily died. Never before had I realized how fragile life is and how easily I could die tomorrow. This understanding led me to have a number of complex reactions. Perhaps the most important thing I came to realize is that since my time on Earth is limited I must ensure that I make the most out of it. Rather than going through my days simply looking for some sort of entertainment or brief satisfaction, I began to increasingly need to make sure that my life had meaning. In these regards, I began to look for more ways to contribute to the lives of others, rather than my own life. Ultimately, I believe this was the most lasting impact my brother’s injury had on my life. While learning increased responsibility was important, the most significant changes were in terms of my overall perspective on living. Now this new perspective is with me everyday and affects my life in significant ways. While I cannot change the short-term nature of life, I can make sure that I make the most out of my existence. Read More