At the risk of sounding like an agony aunt and advising everybody who reads this, I'm gonna be writing about peer pressure this time around because really, what better way for everybody to relate to it than to speak about something that everyone faces. Especially when you move to a new place.
Hmm.. I guess the simplest example of all would be if say, nine of ten people loved my blog and the tenth was afraid of being considered a loser for not liking it (blasphemy!). So succumbing to the fact that everyone else thought my blog was amazing (because it so obviously is!), she/he pretends to love it too.
That was a rather domestic example of peer pressure. It can't have gotten simpler than that. What people actually face in real life isn't as pretty a picture as the one I painted.
We are sociapeer pressurel animals and ergo, we do care about what people think. It's where we know when to stop caring that defines just how much people can pressurize us.
When people get immersed in a culture with strong new memes, it tends to be a sink-or-swim proposition. Either you change your mind, succumbing to peer pressure and adopting the new memes as your own, or you struggle with the extremely uncomfortable feeling of being surrounded by people who think you're crazy or inadequate. The fact that you probably think the same about them is of little consolation.
Moreover, when you move to a new place, you want to adjust, make good friends etc. So when something like peer pressure comes into the equation, it can make or break you. There can be pressure to do so many different things- drink, smoke, bunk classes- things that you may not be okay with. What do you do then? Risk saying no and be a social outcast? Or say yes, and go along with something you're not actually okay with? Well first, you mentally curse yourself for trying to be all grown up and move out to 'make your own decisions'. But jokes apart, you learn to say no. And it is okay to do so. Trust me, you don't become a social outcast. If someone, is your true friend, they will stand by you no matter what. Even when you decide to, oh I don't know, hate this blog maybe!
Anyway, enough of self flattery on my part. The point I'm trying to make is that we will face peer pressure at some point or the other. And even though it may seem really hard at the time, always make the right choice. Because(yes, I'm going to be very cliched) its our choices that make us who we are.
Hmm.. I guess the simplest example of all would be if say, nine of ten people loved my blog and the tenth was afraid of being considered a loser for not liking it (blasphemy!). So succumbing to the fact that everyone else thought my blog was amazing (because it so obviously is!), she/he pretends to love it too.
That was a rather domestic example of peer pressure. It can't have gotten simpler than that. What people actually face in real life isn't as pretty a picture as the one I painted.
We are sociapeer pressurel animals and ergo, we do care about what people think. It's where we know when to stop caring that defines just how much people can pressurize us.
When people get immersed in a culture with strong new memes, it tends to be a sink-or-swim proposition. Either you change your mind, succumbing to peer pressure and adopting the new memes as your own, or you struggle with the extremely uncomfortable feeling of being surrounded by people who think you're crazy or inadequate. The fact that you probably think the same about them is of little consolation.
Moreover, when you move to a new place, you want to adjust, make good friends etc. So when something like peer pressure comes into the equation, it can make or break you. There can be pressure to do so many different things- drink, smoke, bunk classes- things that you may not be okay with. What do you do then? Risk saying no and be a social outcast? Or say yes, and go along with something you're not actually okay with? Well first, you mentally curse yourself for trying to be all grown up and move out to 'make your own decisions'. But jokes apart, you learn to say no. And it is okay to do so. Trust me, you don't become a social outcast. If someone, is your true friend, they will stand by you no matter what. Even when you decide to, oh I don't know, hate this blog maybe!
Anyway, enough of self flattery on my part. The point I'm trying to make is that we will face peer pressure at some point or the other. And even though it may seem really hard at the time, always make the right choice. Because(yes, I'm going to be very cliched) its our choices that make us who we are.
