I am astonished by how jaded people have become. When did cynical become synonymous with cool and sincere synonymous with weak? In this new social environment, it seems people no longer believe in authenticity. When we're optimistic we are perceived as living in a Pollyanna perfect non-reality. When we're pessimistic and insisting life's a bitch, we're given respect and perceived as being realistic.
It's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to apologize for my happiness. I feel like I have to be a bit more jaded so people will be able to see that I'm real. How sad is that? I'm jaded and weary enough, thank you very much. I don't wish to be any more so. It's very uncool of me to admit this, but I genuinely like people, and I like life.
Go ahead, paint me rosy and dismiss me as obviously lacking in intelligence.
The truth is that life, for all of us, is made up of bits and pieces of happiness and sadness. We have big and small reasons for our optimism and pessimism. Life is a pendulum, always in motion, always swinging. I believe in embracing the highs, and not merely surviving the lows, but also learning from them. Where's the benefit in becoming mired down in negativity?
Another side of this whole trend toward cynicism and negativity is the current trend toward unkindness. Society encourages us to speak our minds, and I'm all for that, but I don't believe in speaking hard things with malice. It may be cliché but hatred is easy; love take courage.
People seem to want a free pass to say whatever they hell they want to, in any tone, but they still hold onto their right to be treated respectfully. That makes no sense to me. If you're going to be disrespectful to me, you'll get no respect from me.
Anybody can lob a rock, then duck and run. That's easy. But speaking the truth with kindness and respect, and then standing behind it, takes courage.
It's fashionable to be in your face, cynical, angry, and demanding. It's unfashionable to be optimistic, kind, and respectful. I don't know about you, but I'm committed to being unfashionable in this instance. The cost of being cool is way too high for me. And the truth is, those of you who land on the cool side of this, I don't respect you; I feel sorry for you.
Man up. Be hopeful. Be kind. It'll take some balls, but it's well worth it.