There is a tendency for the more cerebral members of society among us to over-think and over-analyse. Perhaps it is a consequence of a greater awareness of how much bigger and complicated things really are. Or perhaps it is a manufactured awareness that is created to allow over-thinkers a chance to indulge in a self-created fantasy of superiority. But I digress. It would be hypocritical of me to suggest that this awareness is manufactured in any form, considering that I am a proponent of the notion that there is always more to be found underneath any perceived surfaces, above any perceived ceilings, and beyond any perceived barriers.
And if I wasn’t an over-thinker, I wouldn’t be writing this now, would I?
It has been a very tumultuous few months in my life. Bridges have been burned and rebuilt. Ties have been broken and mended. But I shall not bore you with the nitty gritty and the detail, because once you have read one too many sob stories, they all end up being a mishmash of hollywood movie formulas and cynical cliches. Perhaps therein lies the problem.
Perhaps we have overthought and overanalysed our tragedies to the point that they are just bullet points on slides. Data entries on a spreadsheet. Statistics printed in blood on the back of a math paper that attempts to quantify and measure the soul. Whereas we owe it to ourselves to accord events that happen in our, and indeed other people’s, lives, the proper understanding and respect that they deserve; be they heartbreaks, lost loves, betrayals, or even death; we have allowed ourselves to be tricked into believing that whatever it is you are going through, is never as bad as what other people are experiencing.
So what if you’re unhappy? Others are too, and they have it worse. Get over yourself.
Sounds familiar, eh?
But who are we to judge how big or small the impact that any occurrence has on another person’s soul? Are we that well versed in the vagaries of life that we are allowed to be cynical and dismissive of someone’s perceived suffering or lack thereof? Perhaps we are, perhaps we are not.
The events that have transpired over the course of the last two months suggests to me many things about the state of mind that we generally work ourselves in to when confronted with misfortunes and mangled happenings that either blight our own lives, or others around us. Either you get sick and cynical of what has happened, or you empathise and make the effort to try and understand. However, switch it around (with something either happening to someone else instead of it happening to you, or vice versa), and more often than not, those two reactions switch places as well.
It’s okay to be upset and emotional when something happens to you, but somehow it’s ridiculous/stupid/unreasonable/pointless if someone else were to react the same way to a situation. Likewise, it’s easy to be dismissive of someone when tragedy or misfortune befalls them, yet you curse others when others disregard you should bad luck befall you.
Where’s the respect and understanding that human beings are touted to possess? One of the aspects that supposedly makes us superior to all other ‘intelligent’ life on the planet? And most importantly, why the hate and cynicism? Why the absolute refusal to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to at least try to see it from another person’s perspective, beyond your own?
The more direct among you would just tell me to let it go and let life lead its own course. And I’m sure there are some that would make the effort to try to answer my questions.
Then again, I could just be over-thinking this. And if that really is the case, I guess the battle is lost.
