Individual Belief System
Kari Hourany
9/12/10
Individual Belief System
Component 1 - Authority: I have absorbed so much (good and bad) from my parents while growing up that often it is difficult to distinguish what part of my beliefs’ system comes from my own experiences and what stems from an interpretation of my parent’s habits and precepts. Several things I know to be true: First, my dad always gave me the freedom to think for myself, which aided in the development of my ability to acquire the tools I needed to become independent and self-reliant. Second, I always felt that I was at the mercy of my parents sometimes poor decision making as I was growing up and how it didn’t always reflect my best interest. From that I vowed to be sensitive to the needs of others, namely my children who have no one other than me (and their father) to advocate for their needs. Lastly, I’ve battled may serious bouts of drug addiction, which lead to serious battles with depression. Managing anything (“normal“) after that feels simple.
Looking back now the shaping of who I am and my beliefs didn’t happen by some smooth string of events, rather it happened in some piece-wise fashion that often took the hardest path.
Component 2 and 3 - Reason and Experience At times I tend to think of my philosophy or philosophies of life as common sense, and universally understood; the difference between right and wrong. It’s taken me some time to get used to the idea that not everyone shares the same moral convictions as I. I’ve often had to be reminded of this because I believed my philosophy portrayed fairness, honesty, and logic, and anyone who could think for themselves would have naturally developed the same or similar beliefs. When I think about why I do anything I can’t help thinking about how much crap (lies, deceit, poverty, human struggle, etc) I’ve been exposed to. You begin to come to the realization that background matters. In this case you have two choices, either let your
9/12/10
Individual Belief System
Component 1 - Authority: I have absorbed so much (good and bad) from my parents while growing up that often it is difficult to distinguish what part of my beliefs’ system comes from my own experiences and what stems from an interpretation of my parent’s habits and precepts. Several things I know to be true: First, my dad always gave me the freedom to think for myself, which aided in the development of my ability to acquire the tools I needed to become independent and self-reliant. Second, I always felt that I was at the mercy of my parents sometimes poor decision making as I was growing up and how it didn’t always reflect my best interest. From that I vowed to be sensitive to the needs of others, namely my children who have no one other than me (and their father) to advocate for their needs. Lastly, I’ve battled may serious bouts of drug addiction, which lead to serious battles with depression. Managing anything (“normal“) after that feels simple.
Looking back now the shaping of who I am and my beliefs didn’t happen by some smooth string of events, rather it happened in some piece-wise fashion that often took the hardest path.
Component 2 and 3 - Reason and Experience At times I tend to think of my philosophy or philosophies of life as common sense, and universally understood; the difference between right and wrong. It’s taken me some time to get used to the idea that not everyone shares the same moral convictions as I. I’ve often had to be reminded of this because I believed my philosophy portrayed fairness, honesty, and logic, and anyone who could think for themselves would have naturally developed the same or similar beliefs. When I think about why I do anything I can’t help thinking about how much crap (lies, deceit, poverty, human struggle, etc) I’ve been exposed to. You begin to come to the realization that background matters. In this case you have two choices, either let your