viernes, 18 de enero de 2008

Deep Question of the Soul

The saying goes, "you can't win em' all." However when we really think about our lives, our successes failures, disappointments etc… Don't we have a tendency to feel our disappointments much deeper than we appreciate our successes? Sadly I'm afraid this happens too often, I guess in a way it's a natural tendency, humans are funny creatures.

However if we really meditate deeply on this issue we would realize that life isn't about your ratio of success to failures. The point is our character, and in the end the supreme weight of who we have become far outweighs any accumulation of success or failure in life. Isn't this obvious though, in literature and film there is the constant motif of the man who is successful in everything and yet a sham because he lacks character, and his counterpart the man who has lived a hard life full of suffering, and self doubt, yet has through his difficulties in life gained a truly noble character (e.g. It's a Wonderful Life, The Bucket List, Tommy Boy, as unrelated as they are, they all have this motif).

One reason that we enjoy movies that have these types of characters is that we all long to believe that no matter what type of person we consider ourselves to be, there really is purpose in it all. We really do have to strive to be happy, it is an art, and one of the most important ways we perfect our ability to be happy is to seeing the beauty in everyday experience, celebrating our success (both large and small), and seeing the opportunities and purpose behind failure and disappointment.

"You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." (Desiderata)

3 comentarios:

Jessica dijo...

dustin that is really good. and extremly true... that is one thing that mom has really helped me to see... despite all of the challenges life deals out there is a lesson to be learned from it. or there is a blessing in it. maybe not for us but for someone else. most of the time it is both...

The Cranney's dijo...

I would agree that being happy in a choice we make everyday regardless of our circumstances. Like the one concentration camp book, I can't think of the title. I am sure you have read it if not Dad has it. I have never quite thought of "Tommy Boy" in that light. Is the Bucket list any good? By the way with the Super hero question Spider-man has way more character and depth then Batman.

-Rob dijo...

Personally I like batman...

What about cognitive dissonance or dissidence? Where people truly believe they are good and honest, but really they aren't? Who we try to be and what we actually do and our overall perspective of that bears some weight to be considered...

-just thinking.