Many of us reflect upon our lives and wonder what could have been. We also look towards the future and make plans for what is to come. We wondered what goals, aspirations, and regrets people have about their lives. As always, we took to the streets as well as created an online survey to find out.

We received online answers from a range of ages and from both genders. When asked how satisfied you are with life, most answered “satisfied for the most part.” There were no extreme answers, “Completely satisfied” or “Completely unsatisfied.” Therefore, there seems to be something lacking in each person’s life, but on the whole, our audience is happy and content.

When asked about what goals, aspirations, and dreams you had envisioned for yourself, there were definitely some themes that dominated the answers. They were money, freedom, happiness, marriage, health, children, and most popular were travel and a successful career. Most respondents answered that they had achieved most of their goals and dreams. When asked how their aspirations changed over time the most popular answer was that wealth was traded for happiness and careers took the backseat to raising a family. So what seemed paramount as a young adult, a successful career and money, suddenly isn’t as important as we age. Happiness and family take precedence.

Children and happiness also were the forerunners when asked about your greatest achievement. Some of the biggest regrets were “worrying too much about what other people think,” “holding onto grudges,” and the possibility of letting go of a loved one that could have been “the one.” On the bucket list of things to do before dying are to marry, re-marry, have grandchildren, and the number one answer was to travel more.

It’s hard sometimes to put your life in perspective and to concentrate on the values you believe are most important. We seem to hurry through life and don’t even realize what we are taking for granted, whether that be our friends, family, or our health. So it’s important to sit and take a minute to reflect on what you have to be thankful for and to live day-to-day keeping those things in mind.

We’ve asked some fairly controversial questions in the past months that we wanted to lighten it up a bit and tap into what inspires people. Some from Portland and Chicago let us know what inspires them and we also asked Facebook and Twitter followers for their input.

Normally we have people respond through all age groups – interestingly this time no one up to 25 years old or those busy bees from ages 35-45 seemed to be inspired by anything. Is this a case of the youth and those in an (presumably) age group of higher management who are just to focused to be inspired?

When asked what inspires, not surprisingly we are inspired by many different things: from famous people to weddings, to nature’s beauty, but even to the most simple of things as listening to a song or reading a book.

When asked who personally inspires you, it seems that blood is thicker than water. In every case it was either parents talking about kids or vice-versa, rather than a friend or colleague who may have been inspiring.

When asked who in history was most inspirational, the ‘usual suspects’ surfaced: Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Joan of Arc, Ghandi and Jesus. What is interesting in this case is that these are people who have either lived in extreme poverty of have suffered to great lengths. Why is this inspirational? Is this inspirational because the human spirit doesn’t believe that generally they can be that selfless – in which case, why is this inspiration? Is this simply a case of guilt that we then pedestal others as a defense mechanism?

When asked how often you are inspired, the answers ranged from once a day to once a month. So on a whole, respondents were inspired on a regular basis, which may be why they chose to complete the survey. Someone who couldn’t think of an inspirational moment off-hand, may have chosen to not answer the survey.

In any case, whatever arouses our minds and causes us to act on it is a complex matter. But perhaps we should all just take a moment each day to look around us and be inspired by the most simple of things.

Here are 2 of the 16 Web videos from the award-winning campaign.

Then we expounded on these questions on our online survey. We created the survey to be a lot more open-ended than previous surveys so that the respondents could have more freedom in describing their personal experiences.

The majority of our respondents indicated that their family contributed to their views of other races. Most said that their parents taught them to be open to other races. Yet one person wrote as an adult, he found that his family was wrong and “ignorant in their thinking of other races.”

Eighty percent say that they consider themselves less racist than their parents.
One person said, “My parents judged people by their character first and then by action and then by appearance. I learned not to judge people by appearance.” So although family was an influencing factor, it seems people have learned to break away from these influences and form their own beliefs.

Half of our respondents indicated that they have been subjected to racism. Fifty percent of those who have felt discrimination based on race were African American, 17% were Asian, and 33% were Caucasian. One poignant story, told by an Asian respondent, relayed that while at boarding school in Kentucky, she was classed as “black” or a “VI (Virgin Islands) girl” by students and faculty. She was classified as black just because she wasn’t white.

There also seems to be a trend in the answers where a person who has felt discrimination feels they have to somehow determine how a group or new acquaintance views other races before they can really feel comfortable. This is a troubling thought. Not that their behavior is unjustified if they have been treated differently based on their race, but it seems like this is a safety mechanism used to not be themselves until they figure out how others feel. How will minorities ever feel comfortable in their own skin if they act differently or even choose not to be in someone’s company who they perceive as being racist? Then those people who are viewed as racist are not being exposed to other races and therefore do not ever get to have the relationship that might change their mind.

An overwhelming 90% of respondents believe that there is racism within races. Our participants in our video said that this could be based on socio-economic status, education, and even the shade of skin within a race. Again, how will racism ever be eradicated if those within a certain race have prejudices against each other?

Sadly, eighty percent indicate that racism will never completely go away. The general consensus is that with every generation, racism becomes less and less of an issue. Although we are making progress it seems that racism might always be a part of our society at some level.

We would like that thank those who shared their personal experiences and thoughts

“What are you thinking about?”

“Does my butt look big in this?”

These are all moments in which you might decide to tell a lie. Why do you lie? How do you justify telling a lie? Is withholding the truth considered lying? These are some of the questions we asked people on the streets of Washington, D.C. (a city chosen arbitrarily of course…).

After discovering what people had to say about lying in D.C. and in our survey, the general consensus is that most people can justify lying because the lie is sparing another person’s feelings. Saying things like “You look great!” or “My calendar is pretty full next week,” are not meant to be hurtful so are therefore justified ‘half-truths,’ expressed one respondent.

Growing up, most of us are taught to be polite to others, which may involve lying. Through adulthood we uphold these social ‘niceties’ in order to not make people feel uncomfortable. If you were to walk into a dinner party and absolutely abhor someone’s outfit, do you walk straight up to her and tell her? Doubt it. Which brings up the question, “Is withholding the truth considered lying?” Forty-six percent of our survey respondents stated that this is NOT lying.

Imagine what the world would be like if we all said what was on our mind at all times! In the movie “The Invention of Lying,” they live in a society where no one can tell a lie until the main character figures out that he can. The movie shows just how different life would be if no one told a lie. After watching this film, I’m not quite sure if we would want to hear all the truths going on in other peoples’ heads!

Another person said it’s ok to lie “when it doesn’t hurt anyone.” But how does one determine that the lie isn’t hurting the person in the long run? Telling small white lies over time may cause harm to another person eventually. Also, does the nature of the relationship matter when deciding to lie or tell the truth? Maybe people feel ok lying more to an acquaintance than to a significant other because the risk of harm is less with that type of relationship.

Also, we noticed some interesting data in regards to gender and age and how that relates to lying. Eighty-six percent of women say they never lie or only lie once a month compared to 55% of men who say they lie once a month or more. So women are reporting that they lie less than men say they do, but is this reality? Or are women just less likely to want to admit of their lying tendencies. When asked the question,“Is withholding the truth considered lying?” only females answered “yes.” Not one male stated that withholding the truth is lying. So females are more ‘strict’ in the way they think about what defines lying. Men responded more leniently, allowing this circumstance to not be considered lying.

Older people (above 40 years in age) in comparison to the younger generation, stated that they lie less: once a month or never. Does this mean that the older (and possibly wiser) that you get, the less you feel the necessity to lie? Maybe as we are young and still trying to define ourselves and our identities, the more lies we feel like we have to tell. Maybe as we age, we become more truthful, not needing to hide our truths. Whichever way you look at it, young or old, man or woman, we all lie and, unfortunately, probably more often than we would like to admit.

Revel’s latest focus soup topic: lying. When is it OK to lie? What are your justifications for lying? Is withholding the truth considered lying? These are some of the questions we asked the people of D.C. After viewing the video feel free to give us your own opinions.