The Social Environment

The social environment where one lives has several affects on the shape of his or her life. In reality, the most significant social conditions, which affect my life, include friends, social status in the society and the media. The influence that the friends and social status exert on me, affects the quality of my life and the decision that I make, either to my advantage or disadvantage. Although certain social conditions may be deliberate, others are unintentional and based on assumptions of a good lifestyle that sometimes cannot be achieved.

As a growing parson, my friends usually advise me on the kind of life I should live, the thoughts, which should occupy my mind, where to go in leisure time, and the kind of fashion that I should embrace, all in the hope of a better and fulfilling life. While some friendly advices are effective in shaping the direction of my life, I do not find it practical to be directed on the way to spend leisure time. In this regard, I believe that the quality of life and happiness in free time rest on a personal choice, other than the group influence. This could be my unique characteristic because other people would find comfort in the company of other people than staying focused on individual desires.

In addition, friends’ desire such as going for social events at odd hours could not rhyme with the personal convictions in some instances. Therefore, such situations call for personalized approach in making decision to shape the direction of life. If the person does not exercise due caution on issues regarding friends’ influence, he can develop irresponsible characteristics. Although friends’ influence is a very strong social condition in one’s life, the ultimate decision comes from the person, but not his or her colleagues.    

On the other hand, my social status in the society has a great impact on the direction of my life. Since I come from a higher social class, I feel obliged to maintain the integrity that would enhance the respect bestowing on me. In this regard, my social class requires me to be discipline and serve as an example to the other people. This actually shapes my choices and way of life. For example, if I perpetuate misconduct such as excessive drinking, organizing confrontations and using abusive language publicly, such acts can spoil my reputation in the society. That means that I have to refrain from those acts of the desirable direction.

As a result of social security, which is a great concern among the people in the higher social class, I sometimes feel vulnerable to security threats. Thus I have to take adequate safety measures through consulting the experts who have the obligation to advise me on matters relating to protection compliance. They only achieve this through coordination and assessing my security vulnerability, before identifying the suitable solution to keep my life safe. The social safety must not violate the secrecy of my information that I consider to be in the classified category. This social security concern defines my movement and shapes the overall direction of life. Therefore, this is an indication that shapes my status in the community and my experience; this is a social determinant in the shape my life takes.

The media, whose electronic or/and print resources are other significant social aspects, determines the direction of my life as well. For example, the social media such as the internet, smart mobile phone and television currently plays a great role in disseminating information. Basically, the information that I receive from such social media thorough debates, formal exchange and advertisement posts actually shape my knowledge about the global occurrences and help me in making important decisions. For example, I engage in fruitful discussions with friends and colleagues via Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and watch my favorite television programs in my free time. This has a huge influence on my life because certain televisions programs and friendly exchanges are educational ones and help bring up the best in an individual.

Since the social media dominates the latest communication trend, I find it fulfilling to use it in sharing my opinion about life, and seek the direction to take when confronted with challenges. Therefore, it helps me go through the difficult issues, which I may encounter, particularly the life obstacles and challenges by sharing the experiences of others. In this regard, the contribution of social media to shaping my life is enormous and cannot be ignored. The social media also gives self-fulfillment because it creates moments of fun even if the person is alone. Moreover, the contribution of the social media to my leisure is an indication that shapes my life experience; thus I regard it as a social determinant of the direction that my life takes.