French philosophist, René Descartes, famously said;
“I think, therefore I am.”
After deciding to doubt everything he could, Descartes concluded that to doubt, is to think, and that to think is to be.
He argued that, even if he was being deceived by something or someone, the very fact that he was being deceived proves that there must be something to be deceived, therefore proving his existence.
To doubt the existence of everything, including himself, is in itself a form of thinking.
And one cannot think they are not thinking without thinking.
From this, Descartes concluded: “I think, therefore I am.”
Even if nothing exists, or if everything around you is made up by some sort of evil demon.
The one thing you can know for certain is that you exist.
Focus On You
In 8th grade my school held a class vs class futsal league. And surprisingly, I was appointed by my class as the team’s captain.
Immediately I wrote plays for the team to run, signals to use, and personalized positions for every member, according to their strengths and weaknesses.
During our first practice session I had everyone huddle in the middle of the pitch, to give suitable practice plans to everybody there.
And for about 10 minutes, everything worked flawlessly.
I felt less like a captain, rather more so as a coach. Every section, attacking, defending, holding, they were all doing their practice plans on the same pitch.
But like I said, order only lasted about 10 minutes, before boredom reached them.
From there, everything spiraled out of control, and the entire team started running around tackling each other, completely disobeying the practice plans I had crafted.
As hard as I tried to regain control, it was incredibly hard to persuade a crowd of teenage boys to resume order.
After the chaos, I realized something.
Even if it came down to my weak leadership skills, or their inability to follow control, one thing was certain;
I could only rely on myself.
When the matchday came around, we got absolutely hammered by the opposing team.
The standout players from our class?
The only two people who stuck to my planning, those two people being the class’s goalkeeper, and myself.
Rely On Yourself
In the musical, Hamilton, there is a quote mentioned by Aaron Burr that relates very well to our topic;
“I Am The One Thing In Life I Can Control / I Am Inimitable / I Am An Original.”
And this serves true.
In life, what can you have complete control over?
Say if you are the manager of a company, and you believe that you have complete control over it.
If you tell your workers to do A, they start working on A, and so on.
But still, do you have complete control?
A cashier, or lower tier manager could make a mistake and completely destroy the company’s reputation.
Or say a “revolution” against you could start, which could completely revoke your role.
You are never 100% in control of anything, except for yourself.
Think about it, for every decision you make, you are accountable for it.
If you commit a bank robery, you are the one sentenced to jailtime, just you.
But this fact also means that you can rely on yourself.
If you continously try to grow, and improve yourself, you will, in turn, be able to rely completely on yourself.
Think about it, throughout your life, who have you been able to control 100%?
No one.
I Am The One Thing In Life I Can Control
You can’t stop the rain.
You can’t make people treat you right.
You can’t guarantee success, love, or a perfect day.
But you can control how you respond to all of it.
The world is unpredictable, but your mind is the one space where you have authority. You can choose to breathe instead of panic. You can choose to try again instead of quitting. You can choose to believe in yourself even when no one else does.
No matter what anyone says, you are still the one with the power over yourself.
Having to do something doesn’t mean you must do so. Everything depends on what you choose.
But sometimes even if you do everything right, other parties can mess up.
Take my futsal team for example.
Realizing that no matter what happened, the best I could do was continue with myself.
And even if everyone else played horribly, I knew that at least I tried, that even if they dissapointed me, at least I could be proud of myself.
Whether or not they followed suit after seeing me practicing drills was their choice, all I had to worry about was myself.
But this is not to say you shouldn’t care about others.
Up to that point I had spent hours trying to convince them to stick to the plan, only then, after trying, did I shift the focus to myself.
Aaron Burr, from Hamilton.
You Are Important
According to Dr. Ali Binazir, a Harvard-trained physician and writer, the odds of you existing exactly as you are.
Your exact DNA, personality, time, and place, are about:
1 in 10²,⁶⁸⁵,⁰⁰⁰
That’s a 1 followed by 2.7 million zeroes.
No matter who you are, just know, you matter, you’re unique.
And once again with Descartes.
Just know that even if everything around you is false, you exist, which would make you the most important being.
Even if you feel unimportant to everyone else, you are the most important thing to your body.
You are the one that causes and resolves, the one that starts and stops.
You are the God of your body.
And so take that as a gift, cherish every moment, remember that you are the one held accountable for your own actions.
If you’re ever in doubt, remember;
“I think, therefore I am.”
