Wear Sunscreen Part Deux

After my last post, it has come to my attention that I was being slightly hypocritical in my rash judgement of the "autopilot" group of my colleagues. Yes, it's true that I judged them for judging me, and at the same time, passed judgement on their actions as well. After a complete overuse of the "j" word, I've decided to add an addendum to my aforementioned statements about the autopilot-ers.

Since I'm such a fan of groups, I'm going to break down my categories of the class of 2009 even further, starting with the ones who know what they want to do in life. Among those people, there are two kinds--the passionate and the passionless. Let's talk in terms of romantic relationships for example. I can't count the number of couples I know who are together simply for the sake of "having a boyfriend." I don't know when having a significant other became the status quo, but take it from me, it is far less common to be a single independent 22-year old these days than to be quoting love songs in Facebook statuses and declaring their love for one another via Twitter. When asked why they stay with this person, they give a plethora of reasons, such as "What if something better never comes along?" or "I need a date to my cousin's bat mitzvah in 6 months." These are the passionless people to which I am referring to when I speak of the "autopilot" group. By basing their life decisions solely on the expectations of others, they limit themselves to becoming a stereotype of American society.

The passionate, on the other hand, may fall underneath the same broad category of knowing what they want to do in life, but differ from the passionless in the sense that they do so with conviction. In relationships, the passionate are confident, self assured, and aware that with or without their beau, they can stand on their own two feet just fine. The passionate take this same attitude into work, friendship, and life in general. The only problem I have encountered with this group is the expectation for me to be just as self assured in my decisions as they are. This mentality has been the rock in my shoe ever since I decided my life path was going to be undecided. What I dislike about this group is the type of people who feel the need to validate their decisions through judging mine. I may not be on autopilot, but I'm just as passionate about life and all there is to experience as those who know exactly where their lives are going.