John

John is a boy just like me, living in a parallel universe. He has the same life as me: same clothes, same school, same friends, same opportunities, same everything. Except there is one key difference: John is a different person. John makes his own decisions. When faced with the same problem, John and I may choose differently. This divergence is the source of our rivalry, ever since I was a toddler.
Each of us has a counter keeping track of the total number of points we have accumulated. Any time I do something good, I would get a point. However, whenever John does something good, he also gets a point. Oh goodness! Unfortunately, I have been denied access to the counter, and I must only ascertain my relative standing through my parents.
Some say that John is the perfect boy: at any given time, he does what he is supposed to do (although I say that independence and making mistakes leads to a richer life). I'm always in competition with John, and I'm sure he is as well; we've been fighting for points ever since I've known him.
Reflecting back, John, however he is now, is little more than a representation of the ideal version of myself. He's as real as I want him to be.
The sad thing is that I'm not even sure what is "the right thing" anymore. When I was younger, it was somewhat more straightforward, as my parents would tell me what to do. But with independence comes uncertainty Shall I study during lunch or build stronger bonds with my friends? Shall I take a zero period or use the extra hour of sleep? How exactly do I balance work and play? For now, I'll hire my conscience as my personal trainer, to direct me and guide me along the way.
Anyway, John's not going anywhere, so I'm sure come into contact with him again (if parallel universes ever meet). I'll be training hard for our next encounter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Summer

Thoughts on LLMs and Modeling

A Realization