The hardest part of a person's life is finding out who they are. To find out who they are, they might go to college or drop out of college to travel or do something else with their life. Both the 2005 Kenyon College graduates and every reader learned a lot about themselves after reading or listening to David Wallace's "This Is Water" speech. Wallace's speech contains raw, emotional insights that should be taken to heart, even more so after learning that Wallace committed suicide three years after his speech. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The beauty and uniqueness of Wallace's speech lies in its brutal honesty. “…The truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger.” Wallace talks about suicide and boring everyday adult situations to warn us that if we don't train our mind to work for us, it will control us and we will end up unhappy. Wallace goes on to say, “…learning to think really means learning how to exercise control over how and what you think.” This further explains how Wallace's insights are pure and honest. His comments about suicide and his deeper explanations of his insights discredit his claim that he is not trying to "give moral advice" as he says throughout his speech. His diction indicates that he truly wanted the audience to take his insights about life to heart, perhaps so that the audience would not end up with the same fate as him. Wallace's entire speech gives advice that can be harmful to a young person's future, but there is one that stuck out like a sore thumb. Wallace says, “You have to consciously decide what is meaningful and what is not.” It's trying to promote the idea of ​​controlling your actions and feelings by teaching your mind to consciously decide what's important to you and what simply doesn't matter. This is important for the audience, especially for the age group it is aimed at. Most people when they graduate are hyperfocused on relationships, work life, or the drama in their life. Since work-life balance is important, he is telling the audience that they can decide what is important to them. For example, maybe the girl at work who is constantly in a bad mood with you isn't worth your time and you should focus your energy elsewhere. After reading and listening to Wallace's speech, I thought about it a lot like Total. I've thought a lot about how his insight: “You have to consciously decide what is meaningful and what isn't” applies to me and my life. I choose to deal with many problems and people that are not beneficial to my future or my mental health. I thought a lot about the choice after reading Wallace's speech. I began to choose to think differently about problems and unnecessary situations. My automatic reaction to someone hurting me is to forgive and forget and simply never deal with it again. I still forgive people for hurting me, but I've also started picking my battles and who to focus my energy on. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Wallace's insights has not only inspired audiences to live their lives better, but to live despite how their life ended. His speech was raw and brutally honest, contained insights that can help anyone at any time in life, and managed to influence people like me in their daily thinking. David Foster Wallace was a.