I try to be optimistic, I really do, but obviously, being interdependent as humans are, one cannot pretend to be almighty and fully detach oneself from the environment and do everything on one’s own.
So many words to say that, being the sensitive and sensible being that I am, I sometimes have a hard time in the streets, because the ape-like state into which the average citizen (him or her) has decayed, is not precisely a pleasant spectacle.
As reported in the aforementioned adventures, my “optimism musculature” is being improved by sustained training, and it will very likely go on like that, but there are times in which I nevertheless feel like a lonely match inside a pool, trying to evaporate all that cold water on my own… no question about who gets exhausted first.
There are times when I get back home with a feeling as if I was just chewed, digested and then vomited back by the crowd. I’m not even sure if I will stand this steady diet of horror for very long, and perhaps there isn’t any decent human being (excepting the naive ones, and god bless them because we need them so much), who hasn’t considered the possibility of suicide at least once in the middle of the abrasive, terminal world we’re in. At the same time, in case I wouldn’t make it, I don’t think it would invalidate anything that’s written here; an expedition can lead to great discoveries, even if it fails to reach its destination; and besides, I failed because I tried: if you want to live a hundred years, stay at home like a vegetable in front of your screen(s). You’ll be the safest zombie in the world.
That said, here’s the simile that I found comfortable the other way for hanging round, in hope that some of you might find it useful too:
“O.K., so this city you live in is, broadly speaking, revolting. But think of it as a guy who were looking for food in a dump; there is no use in repeating with every item “God, this is repulsive too, I cannot eat it!”. The clock of hunger won’t stop because of those affirmations. You have to focus on the discoveries, on what IS food. So the only solution is within, you have to tune up your perception. And quickly.”
Once internalized, the whole conception could be switched on with a tiny internal sentence. Whenever I caught myself complaining, moaning, hating or fearing against my will, I told myself “Find some food”, or “Feed yourself”, or something of the kind, which substituted the negative thought. Once I got calmer, my mind automatically despised despise and started to work in only two modes: a) Searching for “food”, b) Enjoying the “food” just found. The other things were dodged in the way that a warrior dodges 25 ninjas in a second (sorry for the simile but that’s kind of how I felt).
If this process goes on as usual, the law of fatigue will make the process useless in a few days; the words, being the same, will stop connecting with my inner self. My mind will get bored. So far I enjoy it a lot. All I want to do is have some quiet walks, and resources like this really help me, when I have the luck of finding them. Besides, this one is energizing, makes you feel very proactive. It is a bit like the “observation in present” technique described here.
Did you find the simile useful? Do you use other verbalization tricks to channel your emotions? What works for you?
Related posts:
A new way of being positive
One quote and two warnings
Emotion spotting – how to do it
More about being absolutely positive
A person carrying a suitcase
