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Henry Thoreau A Critical Analysis

To do this, is to become timeless like the stream in which he drinks. We must trust our inner most instincts to guide us through this journey of life. .
             We all experience times in our lives when the world seems like and endless pit of despair. It seems that there is no hope for happiness again. This reminds me of a significant time in my life, a time of fear and despair. It happened a few years ago, I was young and dumb. I got my head and heart all wrapped up in a young woman. At the time, this girl was the world to me. She was everything I always wanted in a woman and more, or so I thought. As time marched on, as it always does, I started to realize that my life was no longer my own. Everything I was doing was to please this one girl. I no longer had my own identity, only a shadow of her. This continued for a while. Finally, one day I realized my life had to change. At this point, I had already given up on a chance to move away to college, I was battling with a severe case of depression, and starting to go a bit further in debt than one would have liked. The realization of all this changed me profoundly. I began to look inside myself. When I did this, I saw a strong young man. A man who could stand on his own two feet. A man who could take on the world with just his mind. I realized that life was to short to be miserable all the time, to short not to live at all.
             As Thoreau did, I followed my instincts and my head. This led me down the path I currently take. The path of inner knowledge which leads to that endless stream.
             From reading this paragraph, I have gained a somewhat different out look on myself. I realize that we are only on this earth for a few short years. However, I have come to understand the fact that we have to live our lives by what is right for us, not what others tell us we should do. If we live by others expectations, we also live by their limitations as well.


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