A Blessing and a Curse
The origin of human suffering is difficult to obtain. However, optimism has long been accepted as a successful way to increase self-esteem. More than this is the ability to like oneself. A student of Psychology explores the philosophy of self-belief and how to foster a zest for life.
This can be reversed in almost every sense.
The ability to perceive itself as useless is also the human’s ability to perceive itself asuseful. Rather than listing the ways in which a person is unworthy of attention, praise or respect, it is easily possible to be actively seeking out that ‘silver lining’. I am an optimist, but I am also a partially-removed observer. That is, I don’t absorb the emotions of current events. What occurs is just the narrative of life, and it is devoid of these simplistic ‘good-bad’ divisions.
Simultaneously it is possible to feel completely indifferent to external stimuli. That is, it should not be the case that the pessimism of others can ‘rub off’ on the human. Conversely the events around a person can also make them feel unhappy. I always appreciate the weather in whatever form it takes. After all, rain is essential in keeping our good land fertile, and the transience of our temperate climate has made the weather a unique British talking point. It is never constant, but all conditions have their merits. Torrential downpours can be hilarious fun, as people run from cover to cover, under the attack of the elements as they interact more closely with us than we would like. The weather doesn’t make the human happy or sad. Happiness is a state of mind, and is therefore governed by the mind. When properly analysed, the concept that certain circumstances are required for happiness is a concept doomed to fail; no circumstances are positive 100% of the time. But the human can be.
If I draw in the points I’ve made, I can show that optimism is the only viable method of thinking, and the only way to be happy in life. Let’s stop thinking about how we are inadequate and start saying we are more than adequate. There’s so much uniqueness to every individual. Even the most hardcore pessimist could find they like themselves with a little digging.
Don’t live for tomorrow either. There’s a reason what is dreamt of has not been achieved or received: there’s still plenty of time to enjoy imperfection. The positive and negative facets of personality are equally interesting, but it’s the positive ones that are overwhelmingly important in terms of self-image. In terms of belief, the truth doesn’t matter. You may be a bad person, but that doesn’t mean you should actively think so, and end up feeling wretched as a result. Everyone has value. Everyone has virtue. Everyone has individuality.
Life’s what you make it, and if you look a little closer, you’ll realise it’s fucking amazing.
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