Most of us rush in making judgment calls about others. We do this without taking the pains of verifying the basis of such formation of thought....
LIFE LESSONS
Most of us rush in making judgment calls about others. We do this without taking the pains of verifying the basis of such formation of thought. The veracity is never questioned. The rumours, the whispers, the insinuations are taken at face value, especially when it is housed in the stream of negativity. We tend to condemn every other person with no plausible cause or reason. The cynic inside us creates that coloured lens which prevents us from seeing people and events in correct perspective.
Politicians, entrepreneurs, academics, intelligentsia and many others from a host of different professions and vocations are generally believed to be corrupt, in every perceivable way, ranging from moral lapses to financial impropriety. The young minds of our beautiful nation are fed day in and day out with information that can only be classified as being in the realm of ‘negative thinking’. This is not to suggest that reports of corruption are untrue, but it’s presence in every facet of daily life is unfounded, unfair and sometimes far-fetched, too.
Man has within him the Spirit of Divinity, which is nothing but pure. All humans, hence, have that intrinsic purity. Aberrations in behaviour, that distance us from our inherent purity, are an excrescence upon a system that is innately full of goodness. It is the deviant behaviour of few of us that instills inside us an extremely grim view of humanity. However incorrect that may be, but the subscription to this thought has many buyers.
Trust and truth have been relegated to the backyard of our social standards; our minds are being influenced to make us believe that falsehood is replacing truth. Cynical thinking process is being allowed to gain traction, through the unreliable social media platforms. There is so much intellectual corruption on various social media channels that it is now becoming increasingly difficult to sift and distinguish between what is true and what isn’t.
The formidable boundary that cuts between good and bad is now more smudged than ever before. Many of us do not even know, if we have housed ourselves in the black or white zone of life. To make matters even worse, the grey area, which was the tiniest strip between the extreme poles of right and wrong; good and evil, is the fastest growing plain that has in its store, distrust, dishonesty and suspicion, for harvesting.
Notwithstanding this onslaught of disinformation, the fact is the human creed is honest, trustworthy, truthful, fair and kind. It is said that the test of character is in adversity and contradiction. In situations of extreme challenges, we continually witness the basic human goodness. Take the recent example of the unsung hero of the Lahore incident; a young girl who had Arabic words inscribed on her suiting was protected from being lynched by a frenzied mob by a shopkeeper who brought the girl inside his shop and kept the shutters down till the law enforcers arrived. Some of you may recall the recent fire in one of the busiest Malls in Karachi, where one single individual, at the risk of losing his own life, saved many lives before the fire brigade arrived. These acts represent innate human goodness.
It is recorded that when the Twin Towers in New York were hit by aircraft on 9/11, hordes of people were coming down through the fire staircase before the implosion tore the buildings down. They were all calm and considerate. In fact, I recall reading that they were giving way not only to the firefighters but to each other as well. Where does this goodness come from? It is within... it is Divine.”
In our interactions, hence, we should look for all the positive vibes in the counterparties. If our mind is glued to the thought that everybody is bad and has only evil designs and intentions, then everything would certainly appear to be up against us.
For those readers of Us whose minds are already arguing with me as they read this piece, perhaps due to the contention that I am being naive and overly generous in my portrayal of eternal human goodness, Rutger Bregman, a historian and writer, offers an insightful perspective in his book Humankind - A hopeful history. He says, “To stand up for human goodness is to stand up against a hydra... that mythological seven-headed monster that grew back two heads for every one Hercules chopped off. Cynicism works a lot like that. For every misanthropic argument you delete, two more will pop up in its place. Veneer theory is a zombie that just keeps coming back.”
All humans are born kind and considerate. However, the challenges and experiences of life can sometimes promote and provoke negativity within us. Those who are not susceptible to this negative thinking tend to enjoy more cordial relationships with others.
Let’s pause and review our thought patterns. It’s important to begin appreciating selfless behavior without cynicism, acknowledging that selfless actions can be truly altruistic and not necessarily internally laced with selfishness.
As young boys and girls, you are urged not to fall prey to the view that things are only getting worse, nay, there is a whole lot of good happening out there; perhaps less than 1 percent or even lesser percentage of global population is not in accord with righteous attitude and behaviour. The fraudulent are few. The honest are many. It would be unfair surrender to these handful of people, who coerce us to see things only negatively. Avoid and stay away from such elements…see that brilliant light peeping from behind the dense, dark and grey clouds, is a promise waiting for you to bask in its glory; it is your thinking that will make the clouds fly past in your lives, Sunshine is your destiny. Seek it. Be positive. Shun cynicism. Consider everyone to be good, until they prove otherwise.
The writer is a Senior Banker & Freelance Columnist.
