This is Water

When we first got assigned to read This Is Water by David Foster Wallace I did not think anything of it. It was my first college reading assignment, so I assumed it was going to be a boring story full of facts and big words. When I opened the book I had deja vu, I knew that I read this sometime before. Then I remembered I was assigned to read this commencement speech for my last high school reading assignment. Right away I emailed my English teacher from 12th grade and told her that thanks to her, I was prepared to do my first college reading assignment.


I then realized my thoughts towards This Is Water haven't changed. Wallace's speech still gave me goosebumps. By using real life examples, Wallace relates to the readers, and makes you think about your day to day activities.

Wallace explains that on days when everything goes wrong you have the power to chose what to think and how to perceive your life. Simply put, if you go around thinking everything sucks, everything is going to suck. But everything doesn't have to suck, if you don't make it. Wallace explains that, "Thinking this way is natural default setting. It's the automatic, unconscious way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I'm operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the center of the world and that my immediate needs and feelings are what should determine the world's priorities." Those are pretty straight forward words that address a harsh reality. Humans are compassionate, but why do we always seem to put our wants, needs, and desires before others?



I think Wallace's point is spot on. Good things do actually come to those who think good things. There are no success stories of heroes, survivors, or famous people that got to where they were today by thinking negative thoughts. You never hear anyone say, "I'd like to thank my negative attitude for shaping me into the person I am today." All those people have one thing in common: they are positive and actually believe that they can make a change in their life.



In addition to not being a negative person you can't be around negative people... negativity is contagious! So many times one person is having a bad day, complaining about things they can't change then BAM, the person sitting next to them starts to complain, which leads to the next person to start, and the next, and the next, and the next.

The best thing to do when your having a terrible day is to sit back and reflect on how good you have it. I know when I first got to college, I was overwhelmed by being in a new place, with new people, and a new workload. Most of the time I just wanted to shut down and give up, but I knew if I did things would not get any easier. I forced myself out of my comfort zone and tried to make the best of the situation I was in. I knew that if I laid in my bed and complained how I hated school or how hard this new experience was, it would never get better. Instead, I decided to be proactive and distract myself from how I felt. I realized that I am lucky enough to be at a good school, supported by my family, bettering my future. I thought about all the people that did not get the same opportunities as I did, and if, given the chance, they would take my position in a heart beat.

Sometimes, I still get overwhelmed at Fairfield. Even though it is a small school, there is still a lot of people and school work and defiantly not enough hours in the day. Whenever I have a bad day, I try to revert my thoughts to good thoughts. Like Wallace says, some days you just aren't able to it. Some days I can't do it, and I fall back to my default setting. On those days though, I go to sleep knowing that tomorrow when I wake up I will have a much better day than yesterday.