There is no action or expressed emotion more annoying to me than cynicism. And as much as I don't like to admit the fact that yes, things do annoy me, cynicsim is one of those things I try to stay far away from. To verbally express any complaint wrapped with cynicism is to carry around an extra cloud of pessimism that intensifies and dampens any and all fresh, hopeful energy and helps cloud ones judgement to the reality of situations.
I have noticed that expressing pessimism carries a lot of compacted frustration over very legitimate issues, yet, when shared, it's always wrongly directed at people who cannot possibly make the changes it requires. You might meet someone who has strong and valid complaint to be pessimistic about, yet, if this complaint comes cloaked in cynicism or is not directed at the very people who hold the power to bring about the desired result, nothing ever changes.
Cynicism, in my opinion, is part of the language of people who have given up on bringing about big changes, yet somewhere in there they hold a smidgen of hope that in their complaints they will help fan the flames enough for someone else to carry the torch of change. How we think about any given situation can define its outcome. If we train our minds to immediately translate any new situation through a filter of 'jaded negativity' we will never escape our current suffering.
We also express cynicism whenever we assume the worse out of every situation. Next time your minds drifts towards a place of 'jaded negativity' and assuming the worse outcome from the start, try assuming the best possible scenario for a change. Either assumption, good or bad, may very well be true or false. But at least when you choose the better assumption, you are not solidifying the assumptions into a fact and in doing that you help breathing hope into a situation that otherwise would have seemed solidly negative.
Don't let others' lost hopes dampen your sunshine.
thanks miriam! you are full of sunshine!!
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