Buddha said, “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Do you believe this is true?
I’ve always been surrounded by people who share this concept, and for some people it rings true, however, for others, like myself, I’m not entirely certain…
Yes, I can agree that we are shaped by our thoughts, and it comes back to this whole ‘glass half-full’ concept that we’re taught from such an early age, as a way of teaching us to always be positive; look for the positive; and not to focus on the opposite; the negative.
I tried that, and it didn’t work for me. Yes, I’ll admit that as a result, I’ve become a lot more jaded than others, and come across as being more negative than others, but I also feel as though I’m being a realist about life, and everything that it involves.
I personally believe that too many people get blinded by approaching life with this positive, glass half-full outlook, it blinds them to the harsh realities around them. Yes, it might be great for them to continue to only focus on the good things in life, but you have to take the good, with the bad – you can’t just completely ignore it and think that it’ll merely disappear if you don’t acknowledge its existence. Life doesn’t work like that, and it’s foolish for you to think that it does. But in saying that, to those positive people, that’s probably sounding like something very negative of me to say… whereas I think that it’s an honest truth / reality that needs to be addressed.
I also think that some people find themselves in patterns of behaviour and emotional spaces. Some people choose to only surround themselves with people who share the same outlooks / interests / beliefs etc as they do – and look, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just saying that that shouldn’t necessarily be the only circles that you involve yourself in. For example, I know a lot of, what I consider, overly-positive people, who choose to only surround themselves with other overly-positive people. My view is that this creates its own little social ‘bubble’ they all tend to live in, and they either can’t, or choose not too, see anything beyond that bubble. They all share their positivity and happiness to the point where anybody else outside the bubble starts to wonder whether they’re actually being serious, or if it’s all just an elaborate hoax – surely nobody can be THAT happy, all the time? Right??!
Then there’s people like me, who look at these people wrapped up in their bubbles of happiness and can’t help but pop those bubbles and point out a few harsh realities to them – most of the time they simply choose to ignore them, and then choose to ignore me and my negativity. But by the same logic, if anybody doesn’t share their same extreme level of happiness and positivity, then you’re clearly a negative person, and you have no place in their world.
…to those of you who are currently living in a bubble like this, WAKE THE FUCK UP!! YOU’RE NOT FOOLING ANYBODY BUT YOURSELF!!
I’ve had a number of people ‘unfriend’ me simply because I choose to have an opinion and I’m not afraid to voice that opinion. They tell me that I’m too negative, but I’ve realised that that might only be partially true. Yes, I’ll admit that I have a tendency to be negative, but it’s not a constant. I’m merely stating the obvious or making social commentary about a group of predictable, vapid, generic people. Why is it considered negative if I choose to call somebody out on their behaviour?
As I’m writing this, I’m already anticipating a number of people who are probably going to call me out on this post, and some of my behaviours, and admittedly, I’m probably setting myself up… but I don’t mind. Isn’t the entire purpose of a blog to use it as a forum to speak somebody’s mind; to voice opinions and then from there choose to engage in a discussion on others’ points of view?
What are your thoughts?
adorablyobnoxious 