what Walden was about

The message that is being sent out by Thoreau in his story Walden is live your own life, live life fully, and live with the time you have, don't waste it. He chooses to live out in the woods to live purposefully, to discover the facts of life, and to live a full life. Thoreau felt that men had chosen to live the common mode of living when really they thought that was there only choice on how to live. He believes that what a person says does not mean it is true, so don't do things with out proof. Thoreau sees old people as being useless for information and you have to figure things out for yourself. "To be awake is to be alive," is one of Thoreau's quotes saying how blessed we are to be alive and how we need to use it as an advantage of living. He points out that when you arise early you see things others do not. He refers to people, who work all day or stay home, as railroad ties and being ride upon by a train. This is saying that society is taking controll of us when we need to take controll of ourselves, we are not riding upon the railroad it is riding upon us. He also points out that we need to follow the beat of our own drummer and do what we desire. One of the things he learned from his life in the woods is that if you go in the direction of your dreams with confidence, and endure to live the life which you have imagined, you will get there with a unexpected amount of sucess and time.