Saturday 10 December 2016

The double jeopardy of pessimism

On my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, I bought a book, titled, "Do humankind's best days lie ahead?" It is the narrative of a debate held in Canada. Thought-provoking.

If we are to learn from history, everything, from health, to mean income, to safety and so many other things are getting better with time. Still, there are the pessimists, who call themselves unjustified, realists, who have fatalistic thinking. They rely on what they see on TV and the news.

While pessimistic thoughts are not supported by history, neither by any logical or rational thinking, pessimists tend to go on making a still graver thinking error: since the future is so bleak, we better try to take care of ourselves as good as we can. While that seems sound by itself, it becomes a complete joke if we look at what they mean by taking care of themselves: hoarding money, and wealth and partying and drinking and so on.

Whether we are optimistic or pessimistic, we should know what brings real happiness to us, what taking care of ourselves truly means!

Adequately taking care of ourselves and achieving enduring happiness does not lie in
- drinking and partying.
- accumulating wealth way beyond our needs
- showing off our latest material possessions
It does mean and lie in selfless service and sharing and being randomly kind!

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