Retouched essay!

Danielle Collins
Ann Harrington, Marcia HuntingtonLolly Smith, Andrea Wells-Edwards
English 101D
16, April, 2009

Little Things Matter

The choices a person makes make up their identity. Whether or not it’s a regret is a different story. That comes normally when there is a change or a realization that this wasn’t the way that person wanted to be. The little decisions and the way a person chooses to live his or her everyday says more about that person’s identity than a few major choices out of a million minor ones, in which the outside world looks at to get a feel for a person’s identity. Every person makes decisions for different reasons the reasons those choices are made makes up your identity.

Life is full of little choices, choices that most people don’t think twice about. These choices are a big part of people’s identity. The choices that are second nature to a person and says a great deal about their identity. Helping someone might seem obvious to some and crazy to others. In a world where helping someone means something only to the person helped and doesn’t help further that persons career some people might think twice about lending a hand. While others do it without question. That says a lot more about someone’s identity then what college they went to. Life is full of little moments that put us where we are at today. Choosing to ignore a small issue and letting it escalate into a big issue tells someone a lot about a person’s identity. Another example one person might think twice about taking the bus while it is second nature for others. The person who has to think about taking the bus may be used to speed, independence, or maybe that person just doesn’t like having to rely on someone else to get somewhere. There are many reasons why people choose the things they do. Then there are the "big" decisions, the decisions where you talk it out with many other people maybe contemplate it for days before you come to a decision. These choices are the ones that the rest of the world looks to, to get a grasp on that person’s identity. These are the choices that moms will tell everyone about. These choices are the ones that people who don’t know a person judge them on. This is like judging people based on a fact sheet. A piece of paper that tells you when a person was born, if they have traveled and where to, the college they went to and their relationship status. That information isn’t enough to know anyone yet instinctively people judge others based on that knowledge. Often people or judged based on one fact about them, like where they work or even if they work. The person’s true identity is often left in the dust because people don’t take the time to know them because of that one fact they know.
All choices matter but the little ones matter more. The ones about a person’s attitude or the way someone treats someone else are more important to a person’s true identity then the major life decisions. How a person acts and talks says more about that person then where they work or went to school. In the end all that matter is the way a person feels about their true identity and how the people that person cared about felt about there true identity. That lasting impression will be of that person’s real identity.