|
You are important and can contribute to this world. You have gifts and life experiences to share with the people of this world, and if you are honest and genuine the world will thank you for it.
 But before we start on the contribution, you need to learn what is an inappropriate contribution, a contribution no one really needs and hurts your reputation and legacy as a person. Contributing rude and dismissive comments in conversation is a form of inappropriate contribution. No one cares what you hate, that you hate this band, or this movie, or this political leader. No one cares if you think someone is overweight or lacks intelligence. Spending your time on this earth going online and commenting on how people are stupid for liking this thing, how this person is unattractive, how you know things and no one else knows anything; these activities do nothing but reduce you to a sad character. No one cares about your hate list.
I know it feels good to have a hate list. I used to be very open about my hate list; I liked this author and this movie and people who did not like the things I consumed were somehow deficient in character. None of that is true, people have different life experiences, different genetic makeups, and those things lead to them liking different things than myself. There is an objective and peaceful way of being critical, by choosing to love the person you are talking with, and letting your comments flow from that love.
You can be addicted to complaining and spend your life complaining about how others are doing things you do not like. Complaining about your job, complaining about other groups of people in society, complaining about your partner, about traffic construction, about your sports teams, about how the new album of your favorite band is not any good, about your boss. The list is endless regarding our abilities to complain. Complaining feels good, it gives one a tiny sense of power, but the problem is, that power is not real. The feeling of power that comes from complaining is a false sense of power. Complaining will never satisfy and that is why it is an addiction. Swimming in your bitterness, flying your anger flags high, will never reveal the beauty that is you. Listen, it does not matter if you are a big tough person who works as a mechanic with grease covered hands, or an administrative worker that never gets noticed by their boss, or a career professional that has success but life feels ruined for you—you are still beautiful. Letting anger drive your decisions and contributions will not provide a sustaining happiness.
The problem is the same for everyone, regardless if we want to or not, we are forced to contribute to the world. There is no escaping contribution. Either we can bring the beauty in ourselves out into the world, or we can make other people deal with our bitterness.
|