Out of all of the speeches we hear throughout our lives we rarely hear about one of the most important topics… This topic is the reason I can stand up here today and speak about other topics… This topic is life. Life is our past, our present, and our future-it’s everything. We will probably never truly know how we got here. Well most of us know about our mother and father and if we’re lucky and interested we might know about our early ancestors, but what about the big picture of life? There’s no way to know how we truly got here or where we will go when we die. The only two things that are known and guaranteed are that we were born and we will die. How we live is up to us… My goal today is to persuade you to live a simple life. It sounds as easy as it is. By living a simple life I don’t mean sleeping in a cornfield and eating insects for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I just mean that everyone should stop living on the surface and look at the entire spectrum of life. We are forced into a world where material objects blind us to the sight of nature. If you really contemplate deeply on life and its meaning some of you might become scared and push it away. That’s why most people live on the surface at all times. We go to school for at least eighteen years of our life, we look forward to getting that driver’s license and hopefully getting the car of our dreams, if not then we work and try to save money but the basic neccessities make it difficult. Some people go to college, but most of the time their concern is not learning but just getting through the required classes to earn that degree that leads to the common outcome, once again earning money. The way this world is set up requires us to obtain money in order to live comfortably. This causes people to become competitive and unhappy when the slightest thing doesn’t go their way. In actuality almost everything we do is invented so why should we always have to follow a strict regimen on how we live our life? Everything we do is basically to occupy our unpredictable amount of time here on earth. We are not allowed to leave that straight and narrow path because of the traditions, rituals, standards, and expectations that are constantly forced upon us. We are not allowed to think deeply and live our lives differently, let alone become open minded to the people who do.

There are some things in this world that cannot be completely changed, but the little changes that each person can make will at least improve many of the problems we deal with daily. As I walk around campus I constantly feel like people do not look beyond their material possessions. I see duplicates of girls sporting chanel purses while talking on their diamond studded cell phones. I hear loud cars speeding passed bumping the latest songs in their top of the line cd players. In my head I wonder do the purses these girls wear actually hold everything they want them to? or is it more for looks? Are those shoes on their feet comfortable or just the sleek style that everyone else is wearing? Is that car really reliable or does the gas mileage and engine come second to the wheels and paint job on the outside? The question I seem to ask myself most is, “ why would anyone want to be like everyone else?” Television, magazines, the internet, and the radio inspire people to be anything but simple. The media takes things that have become basic necessities and spices them up hoping to make a sell. We see this a lot in Las Vegas. Apartments are being torn down forcing students to move out and find a new place to live within 30 days. Taking their place is the new trend, high rise condominiums in Las Vegas. According president and CEO of the Diversified Real Estate Group, Philippe Pageau-Goyette, \"Urban Village will be the place \'where the in-crowd will live.\' The South Las Vegas Strip is soon to become the Manhattan of Las Vegas!\" Urban Village is only one of the future condominium sites where a three-bedroom condo will be sold for 6 million dollars. I recently babysat at a house in Spanish Hills community and found it hilarious that the parents were there the entire time riding their elevator from their office to their bedroom. while security officers patrolled the streets twenty four hours a day. First of all, the high security gates and question and answer session with the guards do not allow any envious onlookers or burglars into the community let alone into their high-secured homes. Shouldn’t there be more security in less fortunate areas where more crimes take place? According to an article in family digest the crime rate for north las vegas is above the national average. Another place that more high security should be in place is the strip. The strip is one of the largest hosts of all types of crime, especially embezzlement. The strip has also become the Mecca of fine dining. Well, I know first hand that the taste of a sixty-dollar piece of salmon at Four Seasons is equivalent to a box of Spam at Wal-Mart… and it’s a lot less cheaper. I remember when I was younger my mom would tell my not to waste my food because people are starving in Africa everyday. I would reply with, “well even if I throw this extra food away the people in Africa aren’t going to get it.” According to worldmessageday.org in Africa every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation and 3/4 are children under the age of 5. I just didn’t understand until later how important it is to conserve what you are given. Food isn’t the only high priced item anymore… clothing stores such as Von Dutch are selling plain black tank tops with a small flying eyeball on it for sixty-five dollars. I can buy a piece of iron on transfer paper for two dollars at target and print the flying eyeball on a black tank top for a grand total of ten dollars. And that’s a pack of three tank tops. Another funny price is the 750 dollars Jessica Simpson spent on two pairs of underwear and one bra. Does that make sense to anyone? I understand that some people have ridiculous amounts of money and 750 dollars might be pocket change, but honestly even if I had money like that I would make better use of it. I could go on forever about how unpractical our society has become, but it’s pretty obvious when you turn on the television, open a magazine, or just walk down the street sometimes. The lack of simplicity in our lives has created many problems within us. Riding the waves of material items has caused people to feel inferior to others creating jealously and envy, which in turn causes violence, hatred, and many other forms of external rage. So many large -scale issues stem from the smallest particle of materialism. The most tragic consequence of surrounding yourself with lifeless objects and shallow thoughts is a shattered image of oneself.