Friends, these two people live in the same world. One person is obviously negatively affected by it while the other has managed to find something in it that brings a smile of happiness.
The happy person does not allow the infinite number of problems the world has to impact her life. This is not to say that she isn’t aware of them but she doesn’t allow them to cloud her life. Look at her eyes, see how they sparkle. They are alive, filled with optimism. Her face is relaxed as is her body.
The man is very upset by something. He might have missed out on a promotion or another driver may have pinched his parking spot or he may have seen his wife walking with another man or one of his kids might have failed an exam or his shares have just dropped in value or he’s just spilled hot coffee in his lap! Whatever, his blood pressure is high and his body is stressed, a damaging state. Look at his hands!
These two photographs show how we can choose to be. We can either react negatively or positively to everything happening around us, life’s ups and downs which we all experience everyday.
The choice is yours! Choose wisely. Your longevity depends on it.
David,
As I commented some time back, sometimes you just have to laugh at it all. But at the same time, I don’t consider myself a don’t-worry-be-happy type of fellow.
I heard someone once say that anger is an awareness. At the same time, I can’t let that anger consume me either.
One of my political and social gurus was the legendary comedian, George Carlin (rest in peace, brother). Through his humor, he opened my eyes to how the human species is currently functioning and how to observe it from an emotional distance.
In this YouTube clip, he explains how he arrived at this philosophy in one of the last interviews he gave before his death.
(Caution. Since this is George Carlin we’re talking about, this clip does contain some of George’s famous “Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say On The Radio.” You know, those words that could infect your soul…curve your spine….and keep America from winning the war.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fck_zwHluvQ
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David G Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Great link, Jeff! He was a wise man. You have to develop a certain amount of detachment otherwise you’d go crazy and the world would crush you.
As well as Carlin’s ‘Ph**k ‘em’ philosophy, I find it useful to think of people like us as the neo-humans and the bulk of the world as either savages or sheep for whom we can’t be held responsible.
Cheers.
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Where’s the biting critique of National War Propaganda (ANZAC) day?
‘Carn David, this bollocks needs to be addressed!
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David G Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
I refused to watch anything on television that had to do with ANZAC day, Andrew. I have written many posts on what I think about war and those who engage in it and make money from it.
A pox on all of them, I say.
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Back in the days when the look of the one in the bottom picture, I was all naiivete and gullibility. I wanted to believe the best in everybody and everything. Being a seasoned soul is both terrible and beautiful. In my interactions I see so much more than I ever did. A day late and a dollar short.
The panic comes partly from seeing things like I never saw them before.
Oddly, I don’t identify with the rage. I have had a lifetime of raged out psychos.
Just peace and PEACE.
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This post is too harsh. I grew up with a brother who actually has Yelp! comments, plural, that are all about how insane he is and how in fear they are of him and they can’t say anything more out of physical or legal fear of him! I realized that was the above photo.
I try to live out of sight out of mind, but the fear instilled never leaves and the smile was a lifetime of masking it. Sometimes the lord of love, the saviour, comes to town and by the end of the week he is impaled as the crowds cheer and the few weep. That is the abandonment. A person can get stuck there. : )
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David G Reply:
April 26th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Grace, I read your two comments carefully. They contains many dimensions, many emotions, many memories, things hinted at but not spelled out. They make for interesting thoughts and guessed at insights.
You write very well!
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Maybe the guy at the top is paying attention!
An American saying – “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention!”
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I like this reminder. Thanks David. I want to be the happy girl. She’s glowing. A good emotional state is so important for our physical health. Also, I think you’re right in saying it’s a CHOICE
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George B Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 1:53 am
“Also, I think you’re right in saying it’s a CHOICE”……
I think that we have no “CHOICE”, we are all influenced by our surroundings and by others and their actions.
Everyone has a snapping point depending on his/her believes, desires and future plans and if your plan is for you and your children to be able to live in peace and harmony, and if you see that this possibility is getting smaller and smaller each day (wars, destruction of our planet), you have to be the top one.
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I was a smiling, laughing baby and I was used and abused for being that way. Yes, that is my basic nature. When I reached the point where the World got to me and I resembled the top picture, I terrified everybody! People’s reactions scared me so much that it has since been a struggle to be myself and find a way to put up with the abuses of the world.
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