A View Askew of Optimism . . .
. . . from Different Angles
Lots of opinions, asides - and maybe something positive?
First Angle
When last I left you I was a bit down in the mouth. In
fact, I was kinda down all over. While generally an optimist, it’s easy for any of us to
drift off course given the amount of sludge that we must slog through in our modern, everyday
life. Ergo I wanted to post something positive today. I guess we’ll see if I succeed.
Several years ago, I was curious about optimism and its dark twin, pessimism, so I did some research. Apparently like being left or right-handed, we are predisposed
to one or the other. Lots of studies back up the common wisdom, however, that having a
positive or optimistic outlook leads generally to a happier life (which
seems pretty unfair to pessimistic folks.) So what’s up with evolution, why is
optimism favored over pessimism?
Well, I’m guessing if that weren't true then the world would probably be very sparsely populated due to pessimists heaving themselves off bridges and cliffs. Humans need at least some optimism to persist given the reality of our lives (mortality mayhaps?) That's probably also why we embrace every possible religion, some 4,000 at last count. (And that's okay, whatever gets you through the night.)
And persist we pesky humans do! I mean even people who are pessimistic about other people or things are usually optimistic about their own life. (Although for some, often with zero practical reason e.g people in Mississippi or Alabama and several other places I can think of.)
While I believe that optimism is kind of the default
setting for most of us, studies also show that there's an important place for
pessimism too. You know, some pessimism was pretty important for cavemen living
with sabretooth tigers. And today it's really the only way for us to deal with the
2nd amendment - and Florida.
Optimism/pessimism are kind of a yin and yang thing.
(Ah, those wily Chinese.)
Anyway,
there is almost always something that naturally swings us back to the positive
side. It can be as simple as a nice article, a memorable tune or just the
passing of time. (Time heals all wounds? Time wounds all heels? Something like
that.)
Second Angle
I have been meditating on
and off for several years. Every few months I go back through one of my Deepak
Chopra 3-week programs and right now I'm on again. Yeah, I know there
is a lot of hooey associated with his ideas but that’s true of many things we believe in. Even though I’m not very good at it, it still seems to work pretty well to
clear my very cluttered mind. Sometimes I even get a little attitude adjustment
out of it.
His programs are sort of based in a Buddhist-type philosophy. I'm no expert and I know I'm doing a great disservice to the elegant philosophy behind it but here’s what I get out of it. The reality of life is that it is full of pain and suffering and the first step is to just recognize and accept that. Then, stay in the present and focus on improving your life and inner peace. How hard can that be? Pretty damn hard. First, our egos distort reality and make everything about us as individuals - about our greed, selfishness, anger. Then, we tend to get wrapped up in what happened in the past and worrying about the future. (Doing precisely the opposite of what Mrs Dear Leader always tells me, “Don’t borrow trouble, DL!") And that, in turn, gets us all spooled up (technical term for agitated - and pessimistic.) Of course that makes it hard to be a better – positive - person which should be the point of life in the first place, right?
As I said, I'm not very good at it - but I am persistent.
On a positive note, I don't fall asleep while meditating anymore.
Speaking of The Buddha . . .
I have special affection for the chubby little guy
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| A Buddha pendant given to me by a very good Thai friend 50 Years Ago. She felt it would protect me and I guess it's worked so far. (Or maybe not. Otto von Bismarck - the dude who founded modern Germany - once said, "There is providence that protects idiots, drunks, children. and the United States of America." OMG, I check a lot of those boxes!) |
Third
Angle
Separate but related, one of my neighbors, who is considerably younger than I, (along with most everyone else on the block) has been studying stoicism, a very old Greek philosophy. Stoics seem to have come to sort of the same conclusion about life as the Buddha (hmmm.) They say, life is hard and unfair so just accept that. Then instead of seeking more material things to sooth our pain in life, just strive to live a simple life of "virtue" i.e. work on being a better person - which is, again, harder than you think.
I mention this because, 1)
I wanted to mention my neighbor and, 2) this is another philosophy - of many - about
facing or explaining the human condition. It seems to me that it's a lot easier
to be an optimist when you are at peace with life and yourself.
(Did I mention that many adult beverages contributed to the brilliance of these conversations?)
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| 2500 years later, Maslow's Hierarchy |
Fourth Angle
As an aside, I bring up the relative youth of my neighbor (huh, see?!) because it has been my experience that it isn’t until people are “older” that they have the time and/or inclination to explore these "great questions of life." It would explain why most of us - yours truly included - are really clueless about so much until later in life - if ever.
Now, as an aside to my aside, Sahil Bloom, who I have quoted before, has an interesting take on both optimism and aging.
"The Transition from infinite optimism to finite realism is an important one.
When you're young, you feel like your time and energy are infinite. You have so many years ahead of you, and with your 20's energy, you can fill those years with endless hustle and fervor.
When you get a bit older (read:30+), you realize that your time and energy are finite, and slowly dwindling. You hopefully do have many years ahead of you, but your energy is limited . . ."
You know, between making a living, raising kids and paying bills there isn’t much incentive or time for thinking about self-empowerment, living a life of virtue - or infinite optimism. I think "finite realism" is a nice way to describe optimism as we get older. (My neighbor seems to be ahead of the curve.)
Fifth Angle
Okay, sorry. To get back on track, speaking of a news story or article to get out of a funk . . .
More old Chinese wisdom:
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” Tao Te Ching
In my case, to paraphrase: when you need a boost, the message will appear.
A few years ago, I started contributing to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA – I highly recommend it.) So I get a quarterly magazine from them and as you might guess they have interesting articles and beautiful pictures.
In this quarter’s edition, aside from the usual beautiful pictures and articles about various parks, there was one about Yellowstone. Specifically, it was about the reunion of a group of folks who worked as kids at Yellowstone for several summers starting 50 years ago.
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| Ah, to be young, beautiful and spending the summer at Yellowstone Park - cleaning rooms |
Now in their 70’s – like certain people I know – they still keep in touch. Their love of that beautiful place hasn’t flagged in all these years nor that for each other.
50 years go by fast . . .
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| Nice Shorts |
Last Angle
Okay, finally (I hear you say, oh thank you!) I leave you with guys who actually knew stuff about life and optimism.
"Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.
Epictetus, Stoic Philosopher, circa 135AD
“When the student is truly ready the teacher will disappear.”
I hope you found something at least vaguely positive here, my friends. Happy spring again (this time I really mean it - I hope.)
D Roger P
Music to restore Optimism - I defy you to listen this and not at least tap your feet. . .
Walking on Sunshine Katrina and the Waves
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