Realization of Norms

After this week in class, I have realized that I follow almost every norm in this society, but I have never actually stopped and thought about it.  We have talked a lot about norms and values and there are many of these that I agree with, and some I disagree with.  I definitley agree that Americans value time and schedules way too much. We are so worried about doing everything based on a strict schedule and if we deviate from it for whatever reason, we haven't accomplished that much that day.  I realized this week that I value time very much in my personal life because everyday I run on a strict schedule of when I will workout, do my homework, eat dinner, and go to bed.  I also constantly look at clocks because I'm always thinking about what is going to happen in 20 minutes from now instead of embracing the moment.  Another that I would agree with is that our society values material culture.  In a film we watched about people in Denmark, one lady said, "Less things, more life" and I believe that this saying should be followed more often because we all our so worried about having the new product and having excess of items instead of just being happy with what we have.  This is also true in my life because I always want the next big thing, when the iPhone 4 came out, I immediatley wanted the iPhone 5 even though my brand new, 600 dollar phone was perfectly fine.  This says a lot about our society and why everyone is so individualized because we are constantly competing for higher status. Overall I have come to terms this week with the fact that I follow almost all of the norms brought up during class because that is what I have been surrounded with my whole life and it has shaped me into who I am today.