Belief

I believe that everyone is here for a reason, no matter how bad it gets...I know so many people who don't believe this, and don't try hard enough to find themselves and see their inner potential...I think that you have to use yourself in order to accomplish your purpose, whatever that is.  So many people just sit there and wait for things to get better...I have had friends who've taken a turn for the worse who I still love to death, but they won't try to make themselves the amazing person they can be.  And I think that's because inside, the reason why they continue to make all of these mistakes is because they don't believe that they can be that way.  Yet no matter how much convincing I try to give, it's never enough.   I've learned in life, that most of the time people never actually follow advice.  Ultimately, they're going to do what they want to do, whether you like it or not... I still try to help these friends because I can't just sit there and watch them do this stuff with my mouth shut--but my words can't change the patterns that they are stuck in, only they can.

I know I've always been really shy, but I became more independent in elementary school because the kids were mean!!!  I don't know if they were actually that bad to me--but I was a very sensitive child and for the rest of my life I made it a point not to become cliquey or ever be mean to someone because they are different...The very best people I have ever met in my life are the ones who are not trying to be perfect all of the time, they're happy with who they are insecurities and all.  I can't get along with people who portray themselves as something they're not.  Then you can't talk to them about anything personal because they're always worried about appearances--boring!

I also love my crazy friends too--I mean, I would be SOO bored if I had to sit there and behave all the time!  We do the dumbest, most fun stuff ever that only teenagers in highschool and college students would do, like yell funny stuff at people out of our car windows, but I hope we never grow up.  I have total peter pan syndrome because I'm so afraid I'll have to turn into basically a different person once I become an adult!

I'm sure my belief system has been challenged at one time or another--but I can't remember...

In the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," beliefs that have been upstanding for years in the deep Southern city of Maycomb are challenged.
I think the major part of the novel where an, "awakening," occurs, is when Boo Radley saves the children's lives.  In the beginning, they saw him as a scary monster.  Here, they realize that he is actually a decent guy.  Scout's eyes are opened again when she sees the discrimination and racism occurring against Tom Robinson and says that killing him  would be, "kinda like killing a mockingbird."  Throughout the novel, because of the things she has witnessed adults doing, Scout herself grows to become a compassionate person who can tell the difference between right and wrong.