The majority of words are easily defined, a simple, easy –to- understand explanation of what it means, and that is all there is to it.  Throughout life, however, meaning is given to these words as trials are thrown in our paths. Love is no longer just a word to a 16 year old girl, but instead a memory of a boy who has become her best friend, her soul mate. Loss is not just another word but it is that pain in a loving mother’s chest after finding out her beloved child could not fight off the cancer, and has passed on. Fighter is not only another word for someone who partakes in physical violence, but instead can be a defining word for the youth of this generation. Just as seasons change so do the meanings of words from the actual definition, to a personal one.
     The Big book, known worldwide as Webster’s Dictionary, states of three incredibly different definitions.  The first, a boxer; a human who fights for a living, for fun.  The second is a military term, noun; and aircraft designed to seek out and destroy enemy aircrafts in the air, these airplane are the protectors.  They eliminate any threat to the bomber aircraft.  The third, explains that fighter is a pugnacious or game individual.

Someone who is determined, and has a reason for what they do. This is the closest definition to what society perceives it as. These are what we have grown up knowing. No emotion. To personality. No meaningful ties to the word. As life is lived however the meaning blossoms into a beautiful, emotional word. It gives a true meaning now, rather than a dictionary meaning.

     We must have a reason to fight, the most important reason is for yourself. Although we are only teenagers the number of trials faced on the daily is unsettling. However, these trials are what shape us into the people we are currently, and the young men and women we will become. After facing such trials the meaning of fighter is revealed. Stuck in a world where we are constantly under attack, we have become fighters. For so many things. We must fight to please the public, and fight to be accepted in it, and yet stay true to who we are. This battle is one that much adolescence does not even know they are fighting in. It is an everyday struggle and we are in a losing state; we’re fighting in a war that can never be won but must always be fought.  Slowly forgetting about each and every human beings individual worth, how? What exactly is the weapon contributing to this battle in such a way that is causing youth to forget who they are?

      Technology, it is clouding the way we communicate and distracting us from the joys of being social. Albert Einstein expressed his fear of technology when he said “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction.  That is when we will have a generation of idiots.” Technology is overpowering human interaction, do not let the label ‘social network’ fool you. Children and teenagers are worried far too much about approval on social media, and about receiving ‘likes’ from people that the kids have probably only talked to a few times; rather than worrying about what their true friends, the ones they see every day, think. As a society we are confusing our moral standards with the world’s standards. The moral standard of you is something I deem of great worth, and is something that should be worth fighting for. No, it is something worth fighting for.
 

It is important to not lose sight of future goals and quit striding towards them for a temporary good time, but it is equally important not to be so fiercely focused on the future that you cannot live in the present.  This is where my story comes in play; and what is a story without a boy?  He ran into my life, quite literally, and taught me of a friendship worth fighting for.  Although we had our differences, of religion and moral standards we found more than agreeable terms to build our relationship on, and it worked out for quite some time.  Then the meddlesome opinions of others crept into the minds of him and me, but mostly in me.  Fear of what would happen in the future overtook my imagination and I did the unthinkable, and quite possibly the most regretful thing that I have ever done in my life.  I stopped fighting for the thing in my life that was worth fighting for. Even though he would fight for our friendship, I allowed fear the future to stop my life in the present.  I lost and amazing friend who meant the world to me, and I quit fighting for what mattered. A friendship that may have lasted a lifetime, but I will never know.

Although there are many interpretations to what the word “fighter” could mean it truly is a matter of perception. Who knew a simple word could become so deeply connected to you, that when you talk about it the past becomes painted in your eyes. We all have something, some memory, some place. Even some word that they believe a whole different meaning to than the world does, and this is mine; we are all soldiers stuck in a battle that can never be won. Teens especially are struggling to prove Einstein wrong.  This is not a generation of idiots.  Technology approval will not run the lives of the youth, and the opinions of others will no longer determine the life changing paths of others.  These statements can be true, as long as we stay fighters, in the world determined to tear us down.