Tweet
Our perception of humanity as a whole is, to a large extent, twofold. We paint people with a broad brush…some are like us, sharing our opinions and our attitudes, while others are different. The thoughts we choose to embrace is often so strong that we are easily convinced that our way is the right way. Every human being has been blessed with a unique nature that cannot be altered by outside forces, but I find myself sometimes wondering if that is REALLY the case! What makes an individual feel SO strongly about something/someone they don’t know? I base this question on fact that we humans praise celebrities, athletes, clergy men and the like, but moment they do something or is attached to something that fails…Doesn’t it almost feel like we are too happy when failure finds these people?
I get that the potential we see in the people will NEVER be precisely the same as our own, and I know that it would appear that I am doing persons that throw hate a minute before giving adoration a disservice because I am making assumptions without knowing the reason for it…nonetheless, my negative feeling comes from a place of seeing the good while acknowledging the bad. The reasons we behave this way are numerous, but I believe that the sum total of who we are will NEVER compare to what we do or don’t do. I get that our understanding of life will FOREVER be limited, but I believe that humanity lies in our ability to accept others for all their failures AND successes. We can love/hate people for who they are, embrace their uniqueness, or we can love them as human beings from afar. We don’t have to relish in another’s pain do we?
After all aren’t our emotions that are SO often linked to the chatter we have in our mind about people does NOT always represent their current state of being? I find that the more we listen to these thoughts, the more we swing between conflicting ideas of what is success AND failure, what is positive AND negative in this world. But I do believe that we can keep ourselves grounded, all we have to do is acknowledge AND release the success/failure of others into the care of the universe. We can never know all the circumstances that may have led them there, so taking it personal on either level isn’t good for us. And though it may seem difficult OR foolish, it is important to see the good in all as there are blessings in every aspect of our reality. So the next time someone has some success/failure be it friend OR a stranger (celebrity), take the time to look inside yourself, find the mirror and the reason you feel the way you do.
I'm not sure if it is human nature, I think like so many other things that make up our character it's a learned behavior.
ReplyDeleteOur emotions run high when we feel someone has wronged us thats when negative thoughts and feelings take over, that little evil voice feeds us that negativity, and we start to act on it without justification.
To avoid negative thinking I apply thought first and try and figure out just why I feel so in different and why the negative thoughts are presenting themselves in my mind because I'm not a jealous or negative person.
This line: "We can never know all the circumstances that may have led them there, so taking it personal on either level isn’t good for us."
ReplyDeleteIn high school, a teacher of mine told my class something along those words, and I often quote, but in a short way. "You never know what someone is going through." Which is true. The person who you think may have it all might not feel that way.
I think the negativity stems from a place of inadequacy at times, maybe not. It is never great to hope for a person's downfall because there's always someone wishing the same for you.
When I think about it now, I ask myself "why focus on what other's are doing, and not tend to your own matters?" I used to spend my time in the midsts of others' successes and failures, not ever keeping track of my own. I'm babbling at this point, but to sum it all up, I'll say that positive cognitions override negative ones because negative thoughts begin to wander from one's own perception of self on to someone who may be ahead of the curve - it's displaced emotion where everyone needs to feel the same way so that we call can be on a common ground.
Why not change it to something positive instead? Thanks for posting this,it's been a while since I've thought about that because I honestly don't think like that anymore. - a good thing indeed
CHET - I AGREE, I DON'T THINK IT IS HUMAN NATURE.
ReplyDeleteUNHAPPY CAPPY - BABBLING HERE IS GOOD...THANK YOU!
ReplyDelete