Do not let yourself be contaminated by bitterness
Confronting the world on a daily basis leaves us with traces that take the form of bitterness that we detect in people’s eyes. To continue to live with a fresh and optimistic mind, we sometimes have to go against a whole bunch of negative energies that can leave us destitute. Do we necessarily have to become a bastard because we live in a world where we can meet such people?
This reflection is quite common, it is easy to justify the evil that we commit by the evil that we see in others. If we act in this way, we are condemned to live in a perpetual war of aggression and revenge. What if instead, we were to become the destroyer of this harmful chain? What if instead of returning evil for evil, we started to return good for evil? I know, this may sound naive, but it is deeper than it seems.
When we dwell on the faults and evil in others, we are only working for their expansion. If we point out the evil, we give it more strength. On the contrary, if we observe the good in others, they tend to reinforce it.
Ending one cycle to start another
When we decide to do an inner work in order not to send back the evil, we start a new cycle that modifies both who we are and our aggressor. There are indeed universal laws that are worth focusing on. If you can see beyond the apparent badness and recognize the good that is hidden, you are making a positive contribution to the situation at hand.
The need to educate yourself to do less harm
As we grow up, we become aware of our ignorance and eventually, the older we get, the more we know that we don’t know. This is also true for the harm we cause to others. Often, it is through ignorance that we harm others. Take the example of eating meat. I imagine that many of you are not vegetarians, but for those of you who have made this choice, you have realized that you were eating sentient animals, and that your taste buds were ultimately doing so at the expense of their well-being and very existence. During all the years you were eating meat, it was difficult for you to understand that you were eating sentient and intelligent beings. It is always the same, when one benefits from an injustice, it is difficult to see it.
We can take this comparison by taking the status of women and the aggressive or toxic temperament of some men. The latter do not understand that their “asserted masculinity” could be experienced as a threat by women who have difficulty feeling secure in the face of overly “enterprising” behavior.
Essentially, the problem is the objectification of the living. The animal we eat or the woman we desire to the point of wanting to “own” her are alienated from us, depriving them of their true essence. It is by ignorance that we take the animal only for meat or a woman for only a being on which to project our desires. In order to put an end to a narrow mindset that has difficulty understanding the world around it, we must give more space to the point of view of these groups. What reinforces this misperception is the fact that we are overwhelmed by a cultural production that is the work of only one part of human diversity. If today we are able to see more of the world through the eyes of a woman, this has not always been the case. Since men are the ones who have a literary, cinematographic, artistic production, in short, the most represented, that’s why we tend to see the world as a man, even if we are a woman.
To do less harm
To harm as few living beings as possible is a candid ideal. However, it is one that can allow us to truly make an impact on this planet. Without an ideal, little is accomplished. It is by having an unattainable objective that we put all the chances on our side to surpass ourselves. If each of us decided to stop harming others, we could transform the world in one generation.
Selfishness, the lure of happiness
In essence, humans are selfish, out of concern for their own happiness. However, it is in the shared experience that humans find their true happiness. So, rather than focusing on the personal success of the “big guys”, we should focus on the collective achievements that were the result of a common effort without any apparent leader. In reality, this is how life already works, the greatest achievements are the result of collective work that nevertheless goes unnoticed. It is because of the need to create a narrative that we feel the need to put forward a personality.
The individual contribution
Since we are sometimes alone in our struggle, we should not seek the friendship of those around us if we see that they are trying to dissuade us from doing what we think is right. If your contemporaries sometimes disappoint you, it is good to look in the books. There are some among them who can be true companions on the road, so much so that the thoughts they express are in phase with yours. In the end, you are never alone, you are just not looking in the right place.
