Have you ever experienced those upsetting moments – what I like to call the small indignities? You know the ones I mean. The petty insults and the condescension generated by the frustrated, the forlorn, and the disenfranchised – and you are on “the receiving end.” Of course, you have – we all have. You try to return an item and the store won’t take it back because it was on sale – unbeknownst to you. The broken item that can’t possibly be fixed because it is discontinued and the government worker who has decided to make your life unnecessarily tedious. The list goes on and on. What do we do about these insults to me and my being?
The first thing we realize, as we age in life, is that these frustrations only expand exponentially with time; they do not diminish at all. It seems as if locusts have descended upon our fields of hopefulness trying to destroy our young life just as it begins. (1) Existence is blighted by countless disappointments. They certainly outweigh our moments of joy. We quickly realize at 18 years of age or so that consciousness will be a true battle to overcome profound angst and mostly, non-stop, emotional pain. But wait, then we can have an epiphany. It is not that life is positive or negative. It is how I see my actuality – not the other way around – it is not how life sees me. Reality, in truth, has very little interest in my machinations. It is only the self; my substance, that must give my efforts value. Do I see my creation as optimistic? Do I have something to achieve in “my piece of life,” something to accomplish?
I once had a colleague who was always fighting a perpetual war against “the fools of the world,” as he called them. At any little error on the part of the restaurant server, the bank teller, or the retail clerk, he would become acerbic and seethe in anger. He fought countless skirmishes in his lifetime, ultimately dying a lonely and bitter man. As I watched this life unfold, I said to myself that most of what made him angry was just human error – individuals, who were perhaps not very smart or well-trained, who simply made mistakes. Which, I might add, we have all done. I must overlook these transgressions. However, if they really are egregious, I can act out of moral indignation by writing a letter or confronting the individual. I do not have to lower my standard of hope to their level of frustration. The “power of the pen” is tremendous. The great intellectuals of any generation are remembered for their moral stances and how they responded through the written word. One of the great thinkers of the early to middle 20th century was Lord Bertrand Russell. (2) He was a profound pacifist (3) and stood against the First World War. In response, he wrote and protested and organized meetings. He did something. For his anti-war position, he was eventually jailed. So, don’t suffer with embarrassment – either “let it go” or become engaged. Life is too beautiful to let indignities get in the way of our life journey. The great psychiatrist and polymath, Carl Jung, (4) leaves us with a thought: You are what you do, not what you say you do.
A closing thought: As a child growing up, I was often bullied and mistreated by some of my classmates. Now some 50 years later, many of those individuals are dead or alive, but unfulfilled. What is the lesson here? I think it is that difficulties occur with everyone as we mature as individuals. We live in a culture of victimization. The media is rife with a plethora of “poor me” (5) stories. In North America, our streets are overflowing with those who have simply given up the “fight for life” and acquiesce to the drugs, the alcohol, and the failure that waits at everyone’s door. The secret to avoiding this fate is a simple one. Never feel sorry for yourself. Bad things happen to everyone. Remember, God did not put you here to be a crybaby, (6) get on with life. As the statement attributed to Aristotle (384-322 BC) reminds us, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.”
To sum up: This week we spoke about forgetting the small indignities in life and striving for excellence.
To be noted: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Just for fun: The Great Guitars: Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis • 11-07-1982 • World of Jazz
For reflection: Why an Obsession with Safety creates Sick Minds and a Sick Society
This week, on your magical walk, please define how you will respond to the insults associated with life.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Don’t be a wage slave – critical thinking is great!
Quote: Life must be a glorious journey into infinity.
Footnotes:
1) Billions of locusts are descending on Ethiopia
3) Pacifism
4) “Matter of Heart” – The Classic Documentary on C.G. Jung (Full)