Do you get frustrated?

I believe that people are basically good. I believe that when we look at the problems that are too big for an individual to fix we can become overcome and lose direction. I believe the answer to taking control of that is focusing on the smaller things that are closer to home and not trying to take on the problems of the world.

I believe there are fundamental problems with many governments/organisations as their main priority seems to be public relations and re-elections. I believe most people get involved in those kind of roles with good intentions but many find it difficult to stay their course. I believe those kinds of environments can become de-personalised and we should not allow that to happen as the focus becomes wealth and power.

I believe that instant gratification should often be delayed but yes, too many do not do this. I believe focusing on the problems/disasters of the world is unhealthy, the good must also be seen and acknowledged. I believe we have many things to be grateful for but most people can only see the things that aren’t going their way. I believe it is better to see mistakes as new opportunities than failures. I believe there is no pending doom, just more of the same things with slightly different names and qualities.

 

This will always be the case, but look again. It is not entirely true. We need to remember that there is a lot of good out there and there is power in the good.

Not all politicians are bad. Many politicians (my husband having been an elected official when he was younger) are extremely giving people who have done thousands of things to help others improve their lives. Yeah, gaining more power creates opportunities to offer greater service. It is abused, yes, but we must not forget the contributions that politicians make. My husband once said, people assume that politicians are always looking for the returned favor. That simply is not always the case. Politicians do so many things without expecting a return. It's what they do. They are not ALL bad.

In many ways they are a good barometer, though, on people overall. Yes, many have made money their god or power or fame...that will always be the case for the uninitiated. Life is confusing and challenging and many, many are misguided and believe that following others is the answer. That may be the only way they can survive. They have lost contact with themselves, their power of choice, their humanity on some levels. It doesn't mean they can't get it back.

People do a lot of good too. We need to recognize that, even if we don't agree with how they behave from moment to moment.

Sayta, I really appreciate all of your work here and these posts. With all due respect, however, I am frustrated with this attitude. It's not that I don't see it. I do. A lot. It just seems to be a cliche. We need to focus on the good that does exist and begin to understand that there are other ways to look at the world as well. It's okay to be happy even with the state of the world. It's a tightrope, but it is still okay. It's just not the way most people see it, but there is a world of good around us as well.

 

Thru all of the anger, sadness, jealousy, envy and rage people also send out love; all of the preceeding 'things' except love are in the human mind, afterall they do not affect the rest of nature. (Same is true with the conflict of good and evil) Our pets love us unconditionally, as uneducated little children do. As you 'learn' you start to share your love with conditions, this is not love. We cannot comprehend true love, or even describe it, ask a 2 year old in midst of fun how he feels, his words will be very limited. Ask a 28 year old he'll speak of experience.

Alot of what we see in the world is about fear, an entirely made up concept and it's very primitive... Fear does come from our intuition, it's what makes us fight or fly, but we make it a billion times worse trying to qualify, describe and judge fear; with our language of words. The big secret in the world that is being released are the lies that control us, when we can educate our children properly, without the same we got, we'll find humans will get along better.

The real conflict is between truth and lies. It was there before you, I and even our parents were born, so don't blame anyone.

Only perfection exists folk, only love and light...

my 2cents

 

I believe that more people are good than are bad, but that bad people get more attention. People tend to take for granted the small kindnesses they receive than for no other reason than someone is just being nice. Take for example the clerk at the grocery store that finds you a coupon you didn't cut out or didn't look for, or the man or woman who waits and holds the door open for someone with a walker, or the person who takes time to return a lost dog. These are small things yes, but they are kindnesses and you see them often.

Many people care about their own gratification and get trapped in the cycle of finding ever greater gratification. However, there are people who are passionate about helping others and being kind.

It is hard for any one person to make big changes, but I believe that one person can make successive small and beneficial changes. When many people make similar efforts those small changes are signficant and the world is less cold.

 

I think over the next few years we are going to see if people will change or get worse! But I agree with all of you. But I too also feel that too many people go thru life and are just plain inconsiderate. And I have turned into a huge asshole just to protect my inner sensitive guy because of them.
I hate people like that and they are the reason that it never changes. I was doing some volunteer work this year involving trail matainence. After spending lot's of money on fuel and food and weekends I realised that no one really cared if I was out there clearing trails. They would not even stop to help me clear the wood off the trail. So I said screw it and I only fix what I ride nothing else. Most people don't deserve what they have and they deserve what they get. Atleast from my experience that seems to be the case. But I may live in a tiny little bubble too.

 

This is a great Thread.

Personally I hate how the World is right now. It does frustrate me. I hate how Everyone is so full of himself that he won't pay Attention to his Neighbours anymore. I hate how Everyone is becoming all materialistic and Money-oriented. I often feel very misplaced in this World.
The worst of all is, that when you have to take this State for some Months or Years, you slowly tend to go towards that Direction yourself. I always fight myself back out of it. I don't want to be like "them".
I think there is enough Problems on this Earth already and that many of them need us to stick together and not to ignore each Other. We already saw what happened whenever People got all egoistic and didn'T care throughout our History on this Planet. And personally I don't feel like I want to experience such a Thing again. As far as my Personality goes, I try to be open for People if they need Anything, even if I don't know them. Others would call me stupid for that, but it's not that I ever cared about it.
One Day, I will leave this Earth and that Day I want to be able to look back at my Life and say "I wasn't perfect, I wasn't the Greatest, I might have done some Mistakes, but at least I tried to make this World better with the Possibilities I had. I guess I can leave in Peace".

Yeah, I am odd like that. And I am glad to see some more People noticing how f'd up this all is.

 

I lost faith in people.

 

I agree partially with HolySmoke, it's not that everyone is bad but that the bad people get all the press and all the attention. I also think that most people are inherently good and have the best intentions. However, I do think that the majority of the human race is caught up in themselves and their lives; it's human nature to take care of yourself first and then once you're alright then you can focus on others. It's the survival instinct.

However, people have to get past that and realize that we are stronger together, and in the end we're so much more likely to survive as a cohesive group. Yet people cling to the "take care of me first" attitude. It's something very hard to get over, and something I battle with all the time. Sometimes it's little things.

For instance say you've had a really hard day, you haven't eaten in hours, you didn't get much sleep the night before. Your stomach hurts with hunger, you're dizzy with exhaustion...what you really want to do is go home, eat and then sleep. But you see a hurt cat on the road. Do you stop to save it? If you did that would probably mean hours getting it the proper medical help, finding the owners, and food and sleep would be further delayed. It's easy to say "I would help the cat" but you really have to put yoursef in that position. (btw I would totally help the cat but probably get fast food on the way to the cat hospital as long as it wasn't in a super critical condition :mno

It's these small, day to day things that really make up the whole. I think if everyone started denying themselves in small ways (not in dangerous ways of course) to help others that we would all be better off. It's the little things that matter, after all, and soon little things build to bigger things if you give it enough time.

 

Desiderata...

 

When you realize how powerless you are in the large scheme of things, you stop caring about how others decide to kill themselves and they're loved ones and you start focusing on the things you can help with.

At that point you move up from being a part of the problem.

 

Responding to many of these posts...thinking out loud...life is not cut and dry. At points you need to consider yourself because if you don't you won't stay around emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually. When you become a parent it becomes even more important to survive, so what one might call selfish is just looking through a different lens. Parenthood requires a tremendous amount of energy and time and is a huge responsibility. On that, I gotta go get my own from school...

Btw, I read the other day, there could be someone(s) in your life causing you great anguish. If they simply changed, would it make all of your problems go away? If they would listen to you, and they became more like you, would you then be happy? It's not about changing each other. Remember, you could wait your entire life for someone to change. I'd say, it's a waste of time. However, you DO get to pick your spouses and friends, and you also get full control over how you react to the people in your lives (colleagues, family) moment to moment. You also control what you think and if it is negative, that is ultimately your choice.