I got lectured about being more of a “glass is half full” person recently, well, I didn’t get lectured to so much as strongly encouraged to be more optimistic. After hearing this, I replied without a second’s hesitation: “I can’t even find the glass.” Am I negative person? Well sure, a bit, but it’s a lifetime habit and not an easy one to break. Add to that my natural cynicism the fact that people just seem to be so damn disappointing a lot of the time. I have days when I want to be cheerful, but then I talk to an idiot or realize someone I respect has never voted, or that the city I live in that has over 12 post offices cannot manage to keep one open past 5pm. I see the positive, people, I just also see the negative and think rather than ignoring it, maybe pointing it out will help try to change it. Is that so bad?
I do admit that simply pointing out all the bad stuff isn’t going to make a positive difference in the world, but either will wearing rose colored glasses. We all go about our lives trying to do the best for ourselves and our families, but sometimes that means we ignore things that really need to change. Then again, I suppose instead of pointing out all the homeless people and giving them spare change, I could actually do more volunteer work or join a cause actively involved in transitioning these people. Truth be told, this is the whole reason I started this blog and now I’m shying away from it. I want to better myself, to find myself, and to hold myself accountable for my choices and attitudes.
I hate being criticized for being too negative, but rather than actually changing I just keep hoping people will stop pointing it out. That’s not really the same thing as improving oneself I guess. I think I’m just afraid that if I start noticing all the pretty and positive that it will appear that I’m ignoring the heartbreaking and tragic. I don’t want to be one of those chipper people who cannot see past there own flower lined driveway. My new mission, after taking into consideration the thoughts expressed to me about my outlook, is to find a way to balance. I need to learn to appreciate the wonderful things in life without allowing them to blind me to the truly devastating circumstances still in existence around the globe.
So I pledge to actively work to change my outlook one day at a time. Each and every day I will focus on a single positive and try to carry that thought with me throughout the entire course of my day. That’s not to say I will not still acknowledge the health care crisis, protesters fates in Iran, militant clashes in Africa or any of the other countless negative conditions in the world, but I will not let it override me. Since I cannot simply end genocide by pointing it out, maybe all I can do is work to be a better, more positive person, changing things for the greater good in my own immediate realm and hope that it will cause a ripple effect. In the words of another, “If we all take care of our little piece of the world, knowing it is contagious and my actions will spread to others, pretty soon everything around me gets better and better and those people spread it to others and on and on it goes.”
For those of you that know me or spend time with me and for those of you that simply read me, don’t expect a dramatic change. I mean, we are talking about 36 years of practiced cynicism here. It’s going to be a long, uphill battle, but they say the first step is the most important and the hardest and I am willing to take it. Life may be full of ugliness, greed, and evil, but it also contains an enormous amount of beauty and good. My life has been touched by people who have left a positive impact on who I am as a person. I may still make some pretty lousy and selfish choices, but in the end I understand that the journey we are all on is one of betterment and community. So tomorrow I am not only going to find my glass, but I’m going to try to focus on the wonderful things it holds and not what it’s missing.
Anger and fear are just as real as love and faith--assuming you believe in things you can't see. Just because you can't see the energy doesn't mean you can't post your blog using WIFI. When your cell vibrates, your faith in the phone is demonstrated when you flip open the screen. You've professed your athiest views, which I respect, but I've never understood what that meant for you. Does that mean you believe in parts of 'all of it' or absolutely none of it? Does that mean you simply disagree with all the religious zealots whose fanatical views send everyone else to hell?--and if so, not believing in something isn't the same as believing in something else. Do you hold any set, however meek or humble, of "this I know to be true"isms as 'Ame's view on life'? Is atheism the prognosis for life containing the sentiment that we came from a random chemical accident in primordial goo, and now contrary to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, organisms randomly evolve into beautiful, life-protecting structures? And that in this life, contrary to the first law of thermodynamics, when we die, our energy ceases to exist?
ReplyDeleteI'm only curious because I enjoy your point of view. Personally, I'm not consistently a glass half full or empty person. My outlook is determined by any number of random variables, with the most important being the objective amount of shit actually in the glass. Maybe it's overflowing and spilling, and maybe it's so empty my dog wouldn't bother to lick the bottom. I'm not going to rose-color that scenario--I'm on empty, not un-full!
But I have a belief about energy. I believe that God is in energy, and that energy must have intention. A break in the circuit or a lack of conductive material stops the flow. Energy doesn't get caught up in semantics, so you can refer to Him/Her as God, Jesus, Buddha, the Great Mother, Divine Goddess, Mother Earth, power, heat, electrical impulses, alive, un-dead, connection--wireless or other AND positive or negative. And from my science classes I know that it's not the energy that is positive or negative, it is the direction that it is flowing that is positive or negative.
SOOOOOO, giving more change to the homeless guy might come from a very powerful intention for you, thus creating positive energy that flows to the dude AND back to you. Once that energy is transfered, the homeless guy can choose where he send that--down the toilet with the booze/drugs (Probably negative) or into a hot sandwhich for his belly and his brain (Probably positive).
But once the energy left you, you don't have to worry or judge it anymore. Changing your outlook will only change the directiion of your personal energy. It won't feed the kids in Darfur, it won't buy a cow in Kenya or a chicken in Africa, or even a bong in Amsterdam. But it might give you a smile, an impulse, an idea or an inspiration. And if any of those are sent in a positive direction, ... oh goodgod, just get the movie "Paying it Forward" if you are not following me. A little sappy, but the point is there.