Are You Chasing Real Rabbits?
Posted by Corey on June 20, 2008
My advice about living an authentic life always begins with this remarkable fable:
Imagine a racing greyhound named Cash. One warm summer evening, Cash sits outside on the front porch and discusses the future with his owner. The duo is world-famous and financially stable from the payouts of many big races.
Between memories, Cash drops a bombshell and says, “I have made a decision. I have decided that I cannot race anymore. My career is finished!”
His startled owner queries, “I must not have heard you correctly Cash, are you too old to race?”
“No,” Cash replies, “I still have some race left in me.”
“Well, do I mistreat you?” asks the owner.
“No, no, you’ve always treated me wonderfully,” answers Cash.
“Then why?” wonders the owner - still in shock - “Why would you give up on our chance to be rich and famous . . .”
Cash cuts her off in mid sentence and makes a simple, yet profound statement: “After running and running and running all of these years, I finally realized that the rabbits I’ve been chasing all my life are fake and I don’t want to race anymore.
We all chase fake rabbits in one form or another. We desire popularity and respect from our peers and we strive to posses the same amenities as our neighbors. We tell white lies to avoid telling hard truths and fake it to appear more intelligent, more attractive and more accomplished than we really are. Worst of all, we readily blame others and avoid taking responsibility for our mistakes in order to save face. We are all human and conditioned from childhood to chase worldly success in the form of excessive wealth, popularity and recognition.
Unfortunately, these “successes” rarely create the true and sustainable happiness we have always desired and we sometimes wonder where we steered off course. The great thing about life, however, is that the road to lasting, authentic success contains many on-ramps. Although we have chased fake rabbits in the past, we can move towards authentic success in a split second. The only thing missing is the motivation.
So, let me ask you one of the most important questions of your life: Do you chase real rabbits? If not, what do you chase and why?
Posted under Authentic Success
I would like to think that my mind is at least open enough to admit that I have no idea if I’m chasing real rabbits. Unlike Cash, young adults in the modern world could be chasing a moose, a unicorn, or their own backside for all they know. This means that one’s sense of purpose is as ambiguous now as ever in history. Why? Because the modern identity is simply a compilation of the traits and goals that society expects one to have. I would say at least 9 out of every 10 people judge their own success based on how their lives are evaluated by others. People spend so much time trying to please the general public that they forget what their own standards of success are. Thus, I encourage selfishness; not in the typical negative way, but as a tool for introspection and reprioritizing one’s life. One can never be happy by simply appeasing the will of society as a whole.
What a “real” rabbit is, is just as hard to define as to attain. In my personal case I would say that I am chasing real rabbits based upon the fact that the things that I am going after such as an education are going to help get to place i want to be. This place is not the stereotypical rich and famous persona. But instead it is a state of being, I want to be happy and comfortable. Not only with myself, but with the impacts that I have made through out my life on many different people and places. Just as society itself is unclear and is subject to change at any moment, the things in life that wont change with the newest trend are real rabbits in life. In the end, its all up to ones happiness and if one can come to terms with all the deeds done in their life and still feel contentment then those are some good real rabbits.
I think this story is very inspiring because of the symbol in it. When the dog realized the rabbit is fake i take the rabbit to be a symbol of dreams in my life. In high school most people wanted to be popular, i was one of them. I chased this “rabbit,” the idea of popularity, until my senior year when i realized there is no way for every person to like you. Even if there was a way for everyone to like you it would take so much of ones time that it would not be work it. So i stopped chasing the symbol of the rabbit.
For four years I was a professional athlete. In the life of sport, competition and success there are wonderful situations and also very hard times. I think for a person who never put all his or her energy in one thing- the sport; it is difficult to imagine how good it feels to be the winner. It is an incredible feeling to reach your goal and also to be love by others who are proud of your result. But there are also some hard times, when you do not reach your goals. And I think this times show how strong an athlete really is. First the athlete is sad because he or she did not reach his goal and in addition not many people care. Coaches love to speak to winner, the media is just interested in an interview with the winner and suddenly there are not all the ‘friends’ you had when you were the star. This is hard, especially if sport is everything in your life- you fell from the top to the very bottom. I had a very hard year. After I was done with High School I came to the German National Team and skiing became my life- two or three times practice a day and I loved it, I gave everything to be successful, and I was successful and people ‘loved’ me. But the body is not a machine and my third year was not good, I was disappointed of myself, sad and I felt lonely- I thought I did not hit the expectation of my coach, friend and family. I lost all my confidence…and my performance did not get better and I went down deeper and deeper.
I watch the world championship this made me turn, sport is wonderful- no question, but also fake. If you are good you have so many friends and if you are not as good as you should be nobody cares. I realized I focused on the wrong aspect, why do I care about people who speak or do not speak with me after a race, why do I care about the media. I realized if I focus on myself I am not as sad. Success and being a champion is short term- next year there will be the next champ. This is not really satisfying. Like Cash realized- winning is not everything.
I still love my sport, but I do it now much more for myself than for anybody else. I see the reaction of people much more realistic, I know how to take them. But of course there are still hundreds of situations in which I focus on the wrong outcome. I want to be good in school to show my parent is am good, but why? They love me anyway- I want to be good for me.
I think the story of Cash shows us we have to think about our real passion, do we do something for ourselves or just to get some positive reaction from others. I thing if we are good with ourselves we do not need positive feedback from others. Of course it is nice but we should not focus our actions on it.
This is not easy, but every time am am not happy I try to realize why, is it because of me or because of the reaction of others- what is my passion- do I do the thing I really want to do or does someone make me do what I do- do is chase real rabbits or do I follow the wrong idea of happiness and real life?
I really love this metaphor for life because it seems so simple but it’s really hard to do. It’s really sad how our American society raises people to think how they should grow up. We live in a world where people obsess over other people because they are famous and have money. Somewhere along the way, that became the goal of every young child growing up in a pretty messed up world. So do I chase real rabbits? I think that in many areas of my life I really do chase real rabbits that, in the long run, will better myself and make me a more authentically happy person. Like I said before though, it’s very hard to do all the time. There is always something else in life that will provide a more instantaneous satisfaction. That’s just part of an innate human desire to want positive results immediately. Unfortunately, a lot of these things usually only provide satisfaction for a short time and eventually become something that can easily drag you down. I’m no different than any other person, I fall for these cheap thrills all the time. I guess the real goal here is to try and set your self up in a position where you fall for them less. This, admittedly, I don’t do enough of. Having said that, there are definitely some rabbits in my life that I chase that are not real, but I’m working on it. The other part of this is how do you know which ones are real? Well I guess the obvious answer is that fake rabbits can’t run. Having said that, I feel that there more situations where I need to not pounce on the closest, easiest rabbit but chase after the ones that are actually running away. The best things in life are worth waiting for so my advice (to myself mainly) is go for the toughest, quickest rabbit that is still within your ability to catch.
It is not always possible to know exactly if it is right or wrong what we do, follow and chase. But I think this is life, we live to learn and to become wise. In my opinion the most important thing in life is to listen to yourself, and as soon as you realize you did something wrong- to have to motivation and energy to be honest to yourself and turn around. Like the dog, he realized he did something he did not really like. He was not mad that he followed the wrong thing so long, but instead he was happy that he realized it is not the right. Be happy that you found out something is not right and be happy that you found for yourself the possibility to dry something better!
I think everyone realizes at some point there are people close to them that are not really friends, what they are doing is not where they want to be, or what they are chasing is not authentic. However, I feel that most find it easier to stay living this life, rather than searching or starting over. People get stuck in a comfortable lifestyle, that may not be their dream, I think it takes a lot of effort and courage to get out of this and truely chase what you want, and people rarely have this kind of courage or motivation.
I don’t think it is right to overlook others’ expectations, because that is what causes us to push ourselves. When others expect more from you, you expect more from yourself. I think it is finding those people who will support you no matter what, and finding the reasons for the chase that is difficult. I believe that success does depend on happiness, but say the happiest man in the world never helped anyone else. Is that ethical or virtuous? I feel that we do need to consider others needs and desires when we consider our own success.
Or perhaps this is all included in authentic success, which in that case we should find a medium for chasing our desires while considering those who care about us.
In class we talked about making a list of what our current priorities are and what we really wanted our priority to be. I think this can be directly related to if we chase fake or real rabbits. Sometimes our priorities are fake rabbits but we believe these are real rabbits and are more therefore more important than anything else. Sitting down and thinking about what you want your priorities to be and what are the things that are most important to you, can be very difficult. Most people are going to say they want their family and friends to be their first priority (or “real” rabbit) but really their first priority is working to make money. I think it can be very hard to decided whether or not something in your life is a real or fake rabbit, it’s also very personal. Some people’s real rabbits may be other people’s fake rabbits. I believe the main thing to take away from this is to take a moment to look at your priorities and your “rabbits”, see if you are happy and content with them, if they can be considered “real rabbits”,or if you need to make some changes. We souldn’t chase rabbits that could make us haapy in the future, but we should chase rabbits that make us happy now.
Chasing “real rabbits” is challenging, but I believe that it is particularly difficult while attending college, especially DU. It is so easy to get caught up in this culture that values such trivial matters. Everyone is so focused on Thursday nights, on getting drunk, on the next social event, on material possessions, on the latest hot gossip, on hooking up. Chasing real rabbits seems to be nearly impossible at times when no one else seems to be trying to do the same.
One of the most difficult obstacles in my pursuit of real rabbits that I have encountered at DU is creating lasting, meaningful relationships with other people. I tend to believe that one of the most important “real rabbits” you could possibly chase is forging true friendships and relationships with others, based on mutual interests, trust, and love, amongst other factors. Only when you create these lasting relationships can you truly be happy. However, it seems to be nearly impossible to do so in an environment that seems to be so permeated with alcohol. In almost every social situation, alcohol is present. If you only hang out with people when they are drinking, you never establish any real connection or bond with them. Fake relationships- both at the friendship level and at deeper, intimate levels- form. It is especially hard to become friends with someone of the opposite sex, because you never really know if their only goal is to get drunk and “hook up.” I think this kind of behavior is disgusting and immature, and I find it incredibly difficult to respect someone who acts in such a manner, let alone be close friends with them.
It bothers me that so many people continue to chase “fake rabbits.” I know I get sidetracked at times. Don’t get me wrong, I am perfectly fine with going out and having fun, but when getting drunk becomes such an all-encompassing part of life, it is troubling. I wonder if anyone here is truly happy. It is very hard to find meaning in life in this atmosphere… and even harder to chase the rabbits that matter most.
Hello Professor Ciocchetti,
I feel like people have to chase those real rabbits but can chase a few fake rabbits as well. I mean yes the real rabbits like your family, friends, and other things that I don’t know about yet are very important, but I feel like we need to chase some fake rabbits as well. I know that I chase the “car” rabbit. I personally really like cars and like to have nice ones. I don’t want nice cars to one up my friend’s cars or something like that, but I like being able to buy cars and then work on them. I enjoy learning how they work and how to make them perform better. I guess this ties in with the whole adrenaline rush all boys look for in someway, but I feel like this rabbit is part of me. I feel like as long as I know this is not the most important rabbit to chase, then its fine to keep. I think people can chase a few fake rabbits as long as the “real” rabbits are put first and the fake rabbits don’t get out of control.
I think in my life, chasing real rabbits or authentic rabbits goes back and forth. The rabbits I am chasing is what I want to do with my life in the future. I have always wanted to be a professional soccer player, but lately my mind paces back and forth on whether or not to keep chasing. Times get hard for me with injuries and not playing very much that I wonder if its what I really want. Am I playing soccer to please other people? If I stopped playing how many people would i let down? These are the questions that i ask myself when i chase authentic rabbits. But I still have the love for the sport that i am free and enjoy playing. I say to myself that this what I want to be paid to do. It happens when I am not injured. So whether i decied to continue chasing or not, I need to do it for me and not for other people.
I believe that everyone must chase rabbits at some point in their life, no matter what that rabbit is. I relate chasing rabbits to life experience. One must go through experience to know truly what is right and wrong, what is preferred and what is not preferred based off of acquired individual morals (developed from experience). Once one develops this experience then thought process along with ethics can be formed. One can make personal decisions, such as Chase did and also Prof. C getting out of his law-firm due to unhappiness. Other decisions formed through experience include asking questions such as, am I happy only having money? Am I happy being popular? I believe that the Chase example is perfect and clear, it does make me question if I am sometimes or always chasing rabbits.
In reality, I think it is very hard for young people, and people in general, to figure out what they are really chasing. Like you said, there are many on ramps, and also many different routes to get to where you finally want to be. For some people it is a necessary to chase popularity because it represents what they want to become in the future, such as hopeful actors or socialites. For some, it is necessary to worry about one’s body, in hopes of becoming a professional athlete. School is not going to be top priority on every students’ list, but it should be in the top few for sure. Chasing success has always been a priority of mine, inspired in me from my parents pushing when i was much younger, which can also be seen in your car wash story above. School has always been a top priority in my life, and will always remain so until I finish with my MBA or MAC. I definitely believe that parents have a big influence on what “rabbits” their kids chase because they lead by example and should create a love for learning and motivation in their children so that they will be able to truly succeed. But, I guess that going out more often would be a much harder choice for me if I had the option, but if I do not focus most of my time on accounting core, I would not be able to pass the class. I cannot just “slide by” and do the minimum amount of work, for this class the maximum amount of work is what you have to do in order to succeed and sometimes even pass the class. I think as long as people are chasing things that truly make them happy, and will continue to in the long run, they are chasing authentic success if they have learned how to manage their time effectively.
Hey Prof. C.,
I think your question of if people chase real rabbits is a very difficult one to answer for some people. I think that so many people are wrapped up in the here and now and everything going on in their life that they sometimes forget to slow down and truly look at where they are headed as a person and in life, in general. I think that despite the message of this story, and the messages that you teach, it can still be difficult to see the “forest through the trees” as you so often say. I think some people don’t realize that they are chasing fake rabbits because the people they trust and care about most are pushing them towards those rabbits. An example of this would be someone who is pursuing a major in a field that they don’t necessarily know is for them. I think too often we let ourselves be influenced by outside sources in making decisions like this and don’t realize that the decision we make as a result of those influences is leading us down the wrong path, or towards chasing a fake rabbit. I think what our society often struggles with is staying true to oneself and being independent. Along with another one of your posts, I feel that the society we have developed has become much to censored and sensitive. We always have someone holding our hand all the way through life, pretty much up until college. I think that is why so many people struggle in an environment where they have the freedom to think and act as they feel. This new found freedom often becomes overwhelming and people find themselves doing whatever else everyone else is doing because they don’t see a problem with it. The result is excessive drinking and smoking and not enough focus on what is truly important in life, like figuring out what one wants from it. I try to chase real rabbits in my life, which I think is why I struggle so much with figuring out what I want to do with it. There are so many things that I enjoy and I want to be a part of my life but, life is full of decisions and we can’t always have everything we want. I, like many others, often stray from the path of chasing real rabbits and get distracted by fake rabbits but definitely try to do my best to get back on track and chase what truly has meaning in my life.
I have been chasing fake rabbits most my life and I still am. I would like to change that and it will be hard but in the end I will be more happy. Like most people I have been trying to get in with the “cool crowd”. I tried to chase friendships with these people. In the end I wasn’t happy with it. I realized that there is no difference between them and my friends. My friends are my friends because we have many commonalities. I shouldn’t be chasing a “more popular” group I should be finding out what it really means to be a true friend. Build my current relationships and make them stronger. Relationships can be forced they happen and are more strong with time. I need to be more honest with who I am and not be concerned with my peers. Another thing I have chased is to be the best in my sport. I should have been trying to get better but I let myself get down because of this. I wish my ski racing memories were more of me being happy I did my best job not being disappointed all the time because I was amazing. I didn’t accept reality.
I think that if you are doing what you enjoy in life, and striving toward something than that is a “real” rabbit you are chasing. Some things being chased may have more validity of being chased to some people than other, but if there is true passion in the chasing then i think that is real. Because surely someone can say that they are chasing real rabbits by working toward a professional career in any aspect, but that strive toward that career may seem totally false and fake to another person who just enjoys going with flow and allows life to take it down many and a windy road. As for me I am doing what I want to do right now, so yes therefore I feel I am chasing real rabbits, but if it ever gets to a point where I am not happy or satisfied with what I am doing or chasing and doing it for the wrongs reasons like you mentioned in your piece then it is not chasing “real” rabbits anymore. In short by chasing your dreams and goals that make YOU happy and make YOU feel satisfied is how I would define chasing these so called “real” rabbits.
Chasing your authentic life or “real rabbits” is an extremely challenging venture. Through 3 and 1/2 years of college, it has been very easy to get sidetracked and lose focus of the real reason I am in college. Although I truly believe that in order to be a complete person you must have a mix of fun and work; you can never lose sight of your goals and what it takes to accomplish them.
It is very easy to set goals, the hard part comes in following through. Although you can rarely accomplish your life goals this early in life (bar Bill Gates), you can most certainly lose them. Making sure your life does not spiral out of control by partying too much may not be as fun letting it…but in the long run it will be worth it. As a person who is almost done with college I can truly attest to the fact that missing a party is not the end of the world…I promise there will be another one just like next week.
I have heard this metaphor many times in class and other campus wide talks, and until now it really didn’t mean anything to me. Probably because I figured I was chasing “real rabbits.” I was chasing a happy and successful life. But who isn’t chasing this kind of lifestyle. Only recently have I questioned the things that will ultimately produce such a lifestyle that I am working so hard for. What kind of friends do I want, what career will bring me to my ultimate goal, where do I want to live that will enable me to enjoy the beauties of life, what about my future spouse? The answers to these questions will hopefully bring me to the life I hope to live, a life of happiness and success. These are actually the rabbits that I am chasing. The broad idea of my expectations of life will only lead to disappointment if I don’t figure out what the “real rabbits” are and how I can chase them.
In my mind the question isn’t if I’m chasing real rabbits, the question is, am I chasing real rabbits in the right way? Many people, including myself, have goals and things they want to accomplish in their lives. We tell ourselves, “I would do ANYTHING to get an A, or I would do ANYTHING to get a starting spot on the team, but would you really do anything? Would you break into your professor’s office to steal the test so you know what’s on it? Would you be like Tonya Harding and plot to eliminate the competition just so you could win gold? My point is that, ethically, we shouldn’t be content on chasing real rabbits; we should be content on chasing real rabbits in the right way. Staying on the straight and narrow path is hard, but like Prof C said, life provides many chances to get back on the path of success. My goals and my rabbits are real, my chase (no pun intended) is mapquested on the straight and narrow, but day in and day out I must continue to be an ethical and good person to stay on my path. In all chase real rabbits and chase them the right way.
If this year has taught me anything, it is that chasing real rabbits is really the way to be truly happy. I have encountered many struggles this year, all that have lead me to the conclusion that the things most important in life are the things I already have. My family, friends/personal relationships, and integrity are the things that keep me going through the storm, not the multimillion dollar yacht that is sinking as we speak. Now that I have found these are the most important tools in life, I am much more grateful for what I have today. It has inspired me to continue to build my ethical foundation and build more meaningful relationships with good people.
I like to think that I chase a fulfilled life. I’ve done many things in my short life such as taking on a full time leadership position as president in my sorority or working for a great company over my summer break. Yet my fulfillment in life comes from happiness, my positive and wonderful relationships with people I care about life my family and friends and boyfriend. Ive worked at trying to not get stressed as easily, to live in the moment and to try to be just as focused on my relationships and school work and future as I am with taking care of myself. I have learned so much from you Prof C in just this short quarter, I wish more people were like you and could understand that chasing the real rabbits is what will make you succesful in the end :).
Prof. C,
No matter how many times I am asked if I am chasing real rabbits, I always have to think about what I am actually chasing. I can not 100 percent say that I am chasing real rabbits. Even though a majority of my time involves chasing “real” rabbits, I still find myself in situations where I second guess myself and question if I am actually chasing real rabbits. I am still learning what it means to chase real rabbits. After first hearing Cash’s story in Fall of my freshman year during your 1060 class, I prepared myself to chase real rabbits for the rest of my life. However, unfortunately it is not that easy. In order to chase real rabbits, one has to learn from their mistakes. After reading real rabbits for the third time in the past two years, I am still learning how to chase real rabbits. Fortunately, I can honestly say that I have my priorities written down, I have my achievable goals, and I am chasing real rabbits and learning from any mistakes I make.
- MK
This school year has really made me think and consider my future. More specifically it has made me take in t account what is important to me now… what authentic success I am chasing at this point in my life. I entered sophomore year with the notion that it was going to be primarily more about friends and a social life, than about academics. However, several turbulent occurrences throughout this year have have really put things into perspective for me. The death of a fellow schoolmate, and the potential incarceration of a good friend who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time has made me consider what is really important in my life. lately, i have been thinking a lot about my friends and family, and about my future. I have put an intense burden on myself to be the best person that I can be, while at the same time trying to strike that balance between a scholastic lifestyle and one of a 19-year-old. The authentic life i have decided, may not be the most fun, may not always be the popular one, but in the end, it is absolutely the most rewarding and meaningful way to live my life.
I first heard about real rabbits two years ago and since then chasing real rabbits is a goal that I currently work on, and will have to continue to work on, throughout my entire life. It is very difficult to change the direction and attainment of all of my habits, dreams and desires overnight. It requires dedication and perseverance! I really do not know anybody that is not striving to be happy and successful, however, I understand that they are might be trying attain happiness and success via fake not real rabbits. I know that I have changed the way I look at the world and that I often ask myself if something is a real or fake “rabbit” but it is truly a life journey that I must continue on in order to achieve authentic success! Thank you for your guidance, good advice and continual support!
I think that this situation is such a great motivational tool to look at. I admit that I do chase fake rabbits sometimes. I think that sometimes I dream of unrealistic things that I think will make me happy in the long run, but going back to this story really puts me in my place. I think a big part of chasing fake rabbits is following trends. I think one of the big ways in which people tend to chase these fake rabbits is by following what their friends or people close to them do. I think one aspect to chasing an authentic life is to make your own dreams and strive for those. Do what makes you happy. This will lead to an authentic life. A lot of people follow what makes others happy and in the end it does not serve to their advantage in the long run. After reading Real Rabbits for a second time, I can say that I have started to look at my life and what I want to accomplish. I have layed down my goals and I am working to strive for those goals.
I think people don’t always pursue the things that are really important in life because they are unable to identify what they are. If everyone knew what exactly it is they love, what is important to them, and what will make them truly happy the rest of their life, they would immediately try to do it, right? The real issue, in my opinion, is that while some people search for happiness in the form of material objects, they would not be tempted/forced to do so if they could accurately identify what it is they are truly seeking.
“Are the rabbits you are chasing real” is a very interesting viewpoint on life’s attainable goals. Your fake rabbits, Professor C, included being a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm, which by all rights you attained very well. When I think if I, myself, am chasing real or fake rabbits, to be honest, I’m pretty sure the rabbits I chase are pretty inanimate as well. While yes I do decent work for classes and whatnot, the rabbits I have been chasing for the past few years now have been far more fake than wanting to be a very successful lawyer or catching the metal rabbit. Most of my rabbits lay more in the social realm these days and as a result my academics are far from where they should be. That having been said, this year has shown marked improvement for me as far as my goals and what I hope to attain from my studies and collegiate experience, but I still need to do some serious work about what my rabbits actually are.
Professor C.
I wonder whether I am chasing real rabbits. Sometimes I feel confused about what I have done in certain way to deal with things. I am a very ethical person who can not compromise the basis of my virtue ethics. However, I got bad experinece from some incidents which I had to be a automatic machine as a reminder of what he has done wrong. Perhaps this is a series of experience for my grow-up in my life. I will be not afraid of anything which can block the way where I am gonna forwarding to my future.
Prof C.,
That story really hadn’t hit me as profound until this year. I had heard you tell that story numerous times to no avail on my part. During that story I had always told myself that this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The rabbit for myself was money. Then I realized that if I had gained this money in my life would I have anything else….
Like Cash, some of us spend years, if not our entire lives chasing fake rabbits. What is fake and what is real has become such a grey area for most of us. It is hard to differentiate our motives, our goals, and our passions. With the media, our friends, and our family as major influences, it is hard to chase an unbiased rabbit.
Many people choose to have a business major because it is “the most safe”, or my favorite “I just want to make money”. I find it shocking that people are wasting their time and money with something they are uninterested in. Money does not buy happiness, but success does. These people are not going to be successful if they are chasing fake rabbits. It frustrates me to coincide with some of my fellow peers who are going down their parent’s path.
I find it easier to judge others before judging myself. Am I chasing real rabbits or fake ones? Well, I think it is too early to tell. Right now I am exploring my future career options. By no means am I being pressured by anyone. I need to find what makes me happy, and what I will enjoy doing.
Professor Ciocchetti,
… And others,
I have been in professor C’s business ethics for the past eight weeks or so while keeping up with the readings in “Real Rabbits.” At the beginning of the class the philosophy of “chasing real rabbits” really got me thinking. It seemed like a great philosophy, something that had crossed my mind, but not in such simple words. It made sense to me, and I began the process of finding what my “real rabbits” were in life. This was more difficult that thought it would be. Soon, it became apparent, and somewhat worrisome to me, just the prospect of this endeavor. In this society there is so much that blinds us, distracts us from what is really important; so many “big and shiny” fake rabbits, and they come at us from every direction in life. It takes a lot to even recognize that.
I am currently reading another book, J Krishnamurti’s “Freedom From the Known,” which speaks about the conditioning people in society. In most cases we do not even realize how we are conditioned, but the fact is that we are: to think, act, and feel certain ways. We are also conditioned to want certain things in many cases, these things are the “fake rabbits”. It is difficult to separate one’s self from one’s own conditioning – there is constant pressure to stay in the society we live in but this is necessary for an “authentic life.” One needs not to put up blinders and ignore the lures of money, fast cars, and “fake rabbits”; people must become aware of these lures, identify what they are and what they personally mean to themselves regardless of what others say. People must make the decision that fits them best. Furthermore, people should identify their personal “real rabbits” in life and (again) regardless of what others say, act accordingly so that they can achieve those goals.
Furthermore, when chasing “real rabbits” I believe people should follow Aristotle’s model of virtue ethics. People should try to find a balance in all aspects and virtues of life; and as people strive towards that, they should be more concerned with the actions that they should take to ultimately achieve that goal or virtue, not the end result. I would like to end with a quote from the book, “Freedom From the Known” that sums this up, “The primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another.” –J. Krishnamurti.
Prof C.
I don’t know if I really know what “real rabbit” I want to start chasing yet. There are definitely things in life that I have that are real and mean a lot to me, and i think that I am for the most part taking a path that will get me where I am trying to go. For the most part, I am happy with what I’ve done so far, so I almost feel like if I continue at the pace that I’m going ill live well.
Over parents weekend first quarter I remember going to your lecture in Sturm with my parents and my sister. At first really did not want to go sit through a lecture and was more into the fact that i was about to eat really good meals because my parents were in town. I remember you asking the integrity question to the packed room and everyone raised their hands. Later when you told us the exact story I had been a part of, it made me laugh pretty hard about some things, but it also got me thinking.. Although i don’t always make the best decisions about things, Ill always be trying to improve my set of tools to help
Prof C,
I spent my entire high school career chasing fake rabbits. I was a straight A student, I played three sports, two of which I was named captain both my junior and senior year, I was popular and friendly with everyone, I participated in many clubs, I worked on the yearbook, I volunteered regularly, I had fun with friends, I went on countless school trips and mission trips, and I was even crowned homecoming queen. Now, I wouldn’t change any of this for the world, high school was great! However, while my memories of high school are filled with fun times and great experiences, I also remember how stressed I was. Looking back now I know that despite all of those seeming successes, I was never satisfied and never very confident in myself. I was too busy worrying about what everyone thought of me that half of the time I couldn’t just enjoy myself. I never considered myself smart so I was always up past midnight studying and doing homework because I was so busy after school with sports and clubs. I remember having to skip my family dinners or sit and do homework at the table. Although I spent a lot of time with friends on the weekends, all day Sunday and Saturday mornings were dedicated to homework and studying. So much money was spent on back to school shopping or my dresses for prom and homecoming. Everything was a competition, school, sports, popularity, and eventually I began to notice that I was competing with my best friends of six years to be the smartest, the most popular, the prettiest…
Coming to DU I realized quickly that the key to my happiness, what really matters and what I often felt was missing in high school, is much simpler than I thought. I quickly learned, especially after reading real rabbits the first quarter of my freshman year, that I no longer needed to prove myself to anyone. By simply being a good person of strong character and integrity, I have been able to enjoy myself, make friends, and enjoy college without feeling the need to be in a sorority, dress up, drink and go out to the bars, or be involved in as many clubs as I can handle. While I still find myself chasing fake rabbits at times-wanting to be pretty, fit, smart, essentially perfect-it takes much less time to recognize and get back on track.
Recently I decided not to study abroad. The entire process went by with little motivation on my part, however I went through the motions simply because everyone else was. I didn’t want to be the one to miss out on what everyone else would be doing. I didn’t want people to assume for themselves reasons for me not studying abroad while everyone else did. It took me a long time while I chased this fake rabbit to realize that I didn’t have to study abroad and had nothing to prove to anyone. My life is going great and I am perfectly happy where I am at this point so why would I want to drop everything and everyone I love here just to prove something to everyone else when I would be the one who may suffer and be unhappy in the end. In high school I did a lot of things that took up my time, time away from friends and family, and threatened my own happiness simply to impress those around me and to build my resume. I wanted my parents to be proud and I wanted everyone to think I was “perfect.” Abroad was just another one of those things, something that I wasn’t particularly excited about but would do simply because I wanted to impress those around me. I am so happy that I have learned to weed out the things in my life that are truly worth my time ; the real rabbits in my life that are so great, real, and rewarding, and truly keep me happy.
Prof C,
I liked reading your ideas about chasing real rabbits. I dont know if I fully understand what a real rabbit is, but I have enough understanding of what it means to be able to relate to it and share similar experiences to your story. I am definitly able to relate to your story in many different ways. When I was applying for colleges, at that point in time of my life, I felt like I was chasing a dream of going to college but had no idea where I was going to apply or what I was going to study. But after a long period of time, visiting schools and doing countless hours of research, I believe that I have found my sense of belonging in the world at the University of Denver.
Thanks for another great quarter!
I look forward to your next class!
Adam Greenberg
Professor C,
I have never had you in a class before and I can say with one hundred percent certainty that you have changed my life. The idea of chasing real rabbits has really got me thinking. I used to think that I wanted to follow in my mothers footsteps, become a successful lawyer and hire nannies to watch my children. That is a fake rabbit. I want to live my life now. I want a great job of course, everybody does, but I have been thinking that perhaps the things I was looking for were only idealistic.
Thank you so much for everything you do for us students. It has truly been remarkable.
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