Bryan W. Alaspa 1Those happy people
August 4th 2009 13:34
There are a lot of people out there who like to have positive attitudes. I know, because they like coming up to me and tell me to be more positive like they are. They like to tell me that I am too negative and that by thinking negative, negative things happen. I would like to point out that those positive people probably have as many negative things happen to them, but they just choose to whistle past them instead of studying them and trying to figure out what happened.
For me, the idea of having a healthy dose of the negative is just the right attitude and way to be in this modern world. There is a lot to be negative about. People are inherently selfish, evil little beings. Those who walk around convinced that the company they work for is going to take care of them, or that the people around them will never do them any harm, are always surprised when exactly the opposite happens.
The most startling example of what I do is when I go to the doctor. When I head off to the doctor, even for a small cough or a sneeze, I assume that whatever is causing it is some kind of tumor of fatal disease. If you walk in assuming you are dying, you can be then pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be nothing big. Then I am happy and I can walk out of the doctor’s office whistling.
We live in a world where people like to do evil things. We fight against our selfish and evil nature every hour of every day. Getting through the day without committing an act of evil is a thing to celebrate. It does not me, however, that we need to deny the existence of our evil side or pretend like it doesn’t exist. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you are somehow kinder, gentler or more good than other people. You are not inherently so, but you choose to be. The moment you assume it is your natural way of being you might let that control slip.
Humans like to deify and demonize. They want to look at the great men and women of the past and assume they are some kind of saint. The great men and women in our history were not saints, they were humans who managed to overcome their human nature to do great things. However, we should not forget that they had faults and did plenty of bad things while they tried. If they are just automatically saints, then they are impossible to aspire to. The same can be said for the evil men and women of the world. They were not spawned from Hell, but born via a man and a woman. They all had the capacity to do good and they chose to just give in to their inherent evil side. If they are demons then we can never learn from them and never learn how to overcome our evil nature.
So, just assuming that everything is going to be great, I think, is a dangerous thing. Everyone talks about being vigilant, but if you walk around thinking everyone is good and nice, you aren’t being vigilant. No wonder people here in the Lincoln Park area are getting clocked from behind and robbed. You should just assume you are going to get mugged when you walk alone at night and that will make you hyper-vigilant.
Give yourself a healthy dose of cynicism and negativity. The world will not shock you nearly as much anymore. It’s a good thing, as that evil Martha Stewart might say.
For me, the idea of having a healthy dose of the negative is just the right attitude and way to be in this modern world. There is a lot to be negative about. People are inherently selfish, evil little beings. Those who walk around convinced that the company they work for is going to take care of them, or that the people around them will never do them any harm, are always surprised when exactly the opposite happens.
The most startling example of what I do is when I go to the doctor. When I head off to the doctor, even for a small cough or a sneeze, I assume that whatever is causing it is some kind of tumor of fatal disease. If you walk in assuming you are dying, you can be then pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be nothing big. Then I am happy and I can walk out of the doctor’s office whistling.
We live in a world where people like to do evil things. We fight against our selfish and evil nature every hour of every day. Getting through the day without committing an act of evil is a thing to celebrate. It does not me, however, that we need to deny the existence of our evil side or pretend like it doesn’t exist. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you are somehow kinder, gentler or more good than other people. You are not inherently so, but you choose to be. The moment you assume it is your natural way of being you might let that control slip.
Humans like to deify and demonize. They want to look at the great men and women of the past and assume they are some kind of saint. The great men and women in our history were not saints, they were humans who managed to overcome their human nature to do great things. However, we should not forget that they had faults and did plenty of bad things while they tried. If they are just automatically saints, then they are impossible to aspire to. The same can be said for the evil men and women of the world. They were not spawned from Hell, but born via a man and a woman. They all had the capacity to do good and they chose to just give in to their inherent evil side. If they are demons then we can never learn from them and never learn how to overcome our evil nature.
So, just assuming that everything is going to be great, I think, is a dangerous thing. Everyone talks about being vigilant, but if you walk around thinking everyone is good and nice, you aren’t being vigilant. No wonder people here in the Lincoln Park area are getting clocked from behind and robbed. You should just assume you are going to get mugged when you walk alone at night and that will make you hyper-vigilant.
Give yourself a healthy dose of cynicism and negativity. The world will not shock you nearly as much anymore. It’s a good thing, as that evil Martha Stewart might say.
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