A Letter to Humanity
Dear Humanity,
Congratulations. You have successfully shifted gears in the journey towards self-destruction. The events of the last few weeks have absolutely convinced me that there is nothing much we can do to slow things down. You have adopted a multi-pronged approach in ensuring we moving faster towards the goal of annihalation of our race. Whether it is conflict over a piece of land (in Gaza and Ukraine), whether it is fighting for religious supremacy (the Shia-Sunni war in Iraq and the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria) , whether it is killing for power over civilians (in Syria, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan), whether it is demonstrating the superiority of the male gender (rapes in India, including the rape in school) and whether it is carelessness in handling deadly epidemics and their carriers (Ebola, MERS, screw up - for the lack of a better word- by CDC), you have done it all. Like an icing on the cake, the collateral damage of your endeavours has even included the death of 298 people on a commercial aircraft that was hit by an unknown missile.
I am not saying I know who is right and who is wrong. I am not saying I know the answers to your problems. I am only wondering about your actions in response to what has happened. No matter what the truth is, nothing justifies the death of thousands of people because of your deliberate choices. I am disgusted but no longer shocked at the way you are responding to these problems.
Your actions keep reminding me that the problem is of an epidemic proportion. Your choices keep sapping the optimism that I have about the world changing for the good. It is hard to swim against the current of negativity to stay afloat in this battle for survival.
As a teacher, I praise my students for their correct choices and chastise them for their wrong ones. I spend hours teaching them the benefit of imbibing and acting with values as well as advantages of learning to act in a peaceful and orderly way. I do this in the hope that they will develop the wisdom to filter out all the negative stimuli that their world is filled with. I do this in the hope they will become a ray of light in the darkness that engulfs them.
However, for everything going wrong, there are somethings going right, that are worth celebrating. Everyday in the school, I see acts of speaking the truth, showing kindness and care, demonstrating self-control against provocation, leading by example and taking a blow for the team, winning with humility and losing gracefully. I see friendship. I see love. These moments are all worth cherishing and holding on to.
If I observe with equanimity, I know there are many more positive moments than negatives ones in the day. It is about what you allow to get to you. I may not always be the candle to light up a dark room, but I can always be the mirror that reflects it. After all, darkness is nothing but the absence of light.
Yours truly,
The Illuminator
PS: Here is some great advice I read in an article on being positive:
Congratulations. You have successfully shifted gears in the journey towards self-destruction. The events of the last few weeks have absolutely convinced me that there is nothing much we can do to slow things down. You have adopted a multi-pronged approach in ensuring we moving faster towards the goal of annihalation of our race. Whether it is conflict over a piece of land (in Gaza and Ukraine), whether it is fighting for religious supremacy (the Shia-Sunni war in Iraq and the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria) , whether it is killing for power over civilians (in Syria, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan), whether it is demonstrating the superiority of the male gender (rapes in India, including the rape in school) and whether it is carelessness in handling deadly epidemics and their carriers (Ebola, MERS, screw up - for the lack of a better word- by CDC), you have done it all. Like an icing on the cake, the collateral damage of your endeavours has even included the death of 298 people on a commercial aircraft that was hit by an unknown missile.
I am not saying I know who is right and who is wrong. I am not saying I know the answers to your problems. I am only wondering about your actions in response to what has happened. No matter what the truth is, nothing justifies the death of thousands of people because of your deliberate choices. I am disgusted but no longer shocked at the way you are responding to these problems.
Your actions keep reminding me that the problem is of an epidemic proportion. Your choices keep sapping the optimism that I have about the world changing for the good. It is hard to swim against the current of negativity to stay afloat in this battle for survival.
As a teacher, I praise my students for their correct choices and chastise them for their wrong ones. I spend hours teaching them the benefit of imbibing and acting with values as well as advantages of learning to act in a peaceful and orderly way. I do this in the hope that they will develop the wisdom to filter out all the negative stimuli that their world is filled with. I do this in the hope they will become a ray of light in the darkness that engulfs them.
However, for everything going wrong, there are somethings going right, that are worth celebrating. Everyday in the school, I see acts of speaking the truth, showing kindness and care, demonstrating self-control against provocation, leading by example and taking a blow for the team, winning with humility and losing gracefully. I see friendship. I see love. These moments are all worth cherishing and holding on to.
If I observe with equanimity, I know there are many more positive moments than negatives ones in the day. It is about what you allow to get to you. I may not always be the candle to light up a dark room, but I can always be the mirror that reflects it. After all, darkness is nothing but the absence of light.
Yours truly,
The Illuminator
PS: Here is some great advice I read in an article on being positive:
- Remember that there are two kinds of pain: pain that hurts and pain that changes you.
- Everything in life is temporary.
- Remember that true happiness begins to arrive only when you stop complaining about your problems and you start being grateful for all the problems you don’t have.
- You can’t make the scars in your life disappear, but you can change the way you see them. You can start seeing your scars as a sign of strength and not pain.
- You will realize that the struggle is not found on the path, it is the path. And it’s worth it. So if you’re going to try, go all the way.
- Do what makes you happy and be with whoever makes you smile, often.
- You might not end up exactly where you intended to go, but you will eventually arrive precisely where you need to be.
- When you feel like quitting, remember that sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right. Sometimes you have to go through the worst, to arrive at your best.
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