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I don't know about you, but lately I feel like I'm drowning in
negativity. Most of it is coming from sites like Facebook and Twitter,
where people are either full out attacking other people or issues,
ranting about some "horrible" experience somewhere or typing smug,
little posts oozing with holier-than-thou attitude. Some of it is coming
from people in real life too, whether it's someone at work, a stranger
in the car behind me or random people I come across in public places.
And of course there is also quite a bit of it floating around in my own
head. I cannot escape!
It's an easy, short read, but to summarize: people are rude. We are all rude. And something needs to be done about it.
How
many times have you heard, "if you can't say something nice, don't say
anything at all?" While it's helpful in some situations, and a lot of
people would do well to follow such advice, why not go to the root of
the problem and try to avoid the negative thought in the first place?
Why is it so easy to be so mean? I cannot tell you
how many times throughout the day the phrase "people are the worst"
crosses my mind or escapes my lips.
I have especially noticed how angry I
am when I'm driving. I used to take the bus to work, where my
impatience and dirty looks were reserved for loud passengers, but now
that I'm driving, everyone on the road has become an enemy in my race to
save maybe two minutes on my entire commute time.
At the gym, every tiny
complaint I hear and every ridiculous statement I overhear just fuel my
rage toward the ignorance and selfishness abundantly flowing through our
society. So does every exaggerated, biased article I read, every
injustice or hardship I see or experience, every time I see basic
manners being ignored or someone being ridiculed for acting or believing
in something different...pretty much every unkind thing I witness makes me
grumpier and, oddly enough, meaner. Apparently I just want the
impossible where everyone is nice to and accepts one another, which
would make it much easier for me to be nice.
I'm not
naive enough to think that will ever happen. I may not
have control over what other people are saying or doing, but there is
plenty I can do about my own thoughts and behavior. There is no reason
for me to let other people's bad attitudes or lack of self awareness
bring me down. I have enough stress to deal with, and letting other
people's poorly chosen negativity release methods bring me down even more is
a waste of time and energy. And maybe—just, maybe—if I start thinking
and acting in the manner I expect from others, it might start
influencing them in a better way than a pessimistic or sarcastic comment would.
This is going to be much harder than
it sounds for me, as I am human and quick to judge, but here is my challenge: for every negative
thought I have about a person or a situation, I have to come up with two
positive (and sincere) thoughts. Every negative action warrants two
positive actions. Hopefully I can train myself to stop contributing to
our rudeness epidemic, and I challenge you to try it too!
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