Monday, September 14, 2009

The Great Debate

Its a debate that is as old as debating itself...Right up there with which comes first-the chicken or the egg (and just about as difficult to pronounce a winner).

The question at hand is "are there circumstances that one person may go through where it is impossible for that person to be happy"? In other words, can optimism be impossible??

I posed this question to several friends, and I have to say, I'm not even the slightest bit convinced that EVERY person can/should be able to find happiness with their situation. The example that I proposed was that if a person was kidnapped and held prisoner in a cave where they were beaten everyday, are they wrong for not seeing the silver lining and being unhappy?

And the answer that I always get back is yes. They should be able to find happiness...whether it be in a butterfly flying in the cave...blah, blah, blah...

But my thing is sometimes, if someone goes through so many things and is constantly reminded of how bad the situations are, it is hard to even see the butterfly if you are so concentrated in your thoughts. Not only that..but how relevant is the butterfly to your life? Not at all. Yes, it is beautiful, but that isn't a strong enough reason to smile when everything else is in pieces...it doesn't provide freedom and piece of mind..

Perhaps I'm just a hopeless pessimist...

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