Happiness & Cynicism
It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is, better still to sit with the good than alone. It is better to speak to a seeker of knowledge than to remain silent; but silence is better than idle words. ~ Mohammed
It’s very easy in our world to become cynical, I speak from experience. I’ve always been a very cynical person, it comes from living in a world where people let you down, with consistency. A world where our politicians will say anything to get elected, where elected officials are more concerned with opposing the other political party than actually governing or trying to help people. I see on TV every day advertisements from coal and oil companies talking about how much they love the environment, pretending that we can burn petroleum free of consequences. We are bombarded on a daily basis from a hundred directions manipulated by expert advertisers whose job it is to tell us what we like, what we care about, who to vote for, what we should look like and even who the good guys and bad guys are in the world. It makes you wonder at times if any of your thoughts are your own.
It is a quick and easy path to cynicism for those of us who think and feel. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to see a dark futility in being so cynical. That time frame not so surprisingly fairly closely corresponds to the birth of the Ministry of Happiness. In creating a happier life for myself, it seemed appropriate, maybe even necessary to share and help others; maybe it was just about having some company on the path. Through this journey some of the cynical edge to my view has begun to dissipate and it has helped me progress toward a happier life. Hopefully some of what we do here will help you as well, and as always, be happy and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane.
Dear Reverend…I just read something about a cure for cynicism….
“He on whom your attention rests is your neighbor; he also will die. If you acquire data always to realize the inevitability of their death and your own death, you will have a feeling of pity for others, and be just toward them. From realizing the significance of your neighbor when your attention rest on him, that he will die, pity for him and compassion toward him will arise in you, and finally you will love him; also, by doing this constantly, real faith, conscious faith, will arise in some part of you and spread to other parts, and you will have the possibility of knowing real happiness.” (Gurdjieff)
Thanks Shaggy, I really like this a lot, thanks for the comment.
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