Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on April 28, 2012
Avoiding the “Pit of Despair”
I just spent the last ten minutes laughing my ass off. I was watching this segment on the Colbert Report: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/414121/may-10-2012/threatdown—interdimensional-black-people–gay-strokes—manipulative-sicko-monkeys
But that’s not why I’m writing about the pit of despair. It’s because I research topics like drug cartels, and immigration, and the more I know, the closer I get to the pit.
As I have stated before, I live in paradise. Nothing should get me down, except that I know horrible, almost unspeakable events are happening elsewhere. Almost as bad as people suffering tragedy is that folks think there is a black-or-white answer to these problems. Like immigration: just deport all illegals. Or gay rights: just tell them to turn straight! Or women’s healthcare: just tell them to abstain or get pregnant, and no fair getting sick if we don’t help you. In fact, if you have female problems, just deal with it, okay? Or drug cartels: just go in and do “target practice.” And bigotry? It shouldn’t even exist, because at the genetic level, you can’t tell the color of a person’s skin. These are the things I’ve heard just this week.
I’m here to say, we live in grey. It’s not so simple, but yet simpletons don’t mind putting out their simple thoughts. If it were so simple, we wouldn’t have huge arguments about these things.
I don’t blame the simpletons for these black-or-white thoughts. It’s the way people handle the arbitrariness, the uncertainty of life. It gives a person the illusion of control over their life.
So back to the pit of despair issue: how does one avoid it?
Here is my best answer: find other positive people, and share your positivism. Maintain your own sense of “doing what’s right” and be an example by living that way. You can’t change other people’s actions, you can only do your own thing.
That, and: watch some comedy. Because even in the worst of times, we have to laugh!