A world [without]{.underline} tragedy. That’s what you want, right?
Maybe you’ve wished for a different life. Maybe you see those who clearly are better off compared to where you are. Maybe you hate them. Got sick of them. Maybe you got sick of the taunting and the nonsense and you wonder why you ever did care.
You wonder why you wasted so much time. Why no one helped. Maybe if you just did one thing different. Maybe if you got a better start. That one mistake that now marks your life. If only you weren’t so stupid.
Maybe if you were born in a different family. A different country. A different time.
Maybe if people weren’t so stupid all the time. Maybe if you weren’t so dumb, but you’re dumb and people tell you that you’re dumb and you have evidence to confirm it too. Failures with belittlement all around you. Every relationship you’ve made has come back to bite you. You’re drowning in disappointment, rejection, and feeling like a lost cause. You wonder why everything feels so empty, people too. It shows that maybe you aren’t meant for this world.
Maybe you don’t think this world was meant at all. Maybe you remember the darker parts, far darker than what we know. It just causes your knot to tighten even more, feeling not only like a failure but there’s so many worse things out there waiting and here you are, just a waste of space.
Maybe the fire has risen too high. You’re closer than you think to burning out. You aren’t sure why things had to turn out this way. You don’t want civilization. Nor humanity, nor the things in-between and maybe it was better if we were never here.
But no matter how many ways you dream of a different configuration, no matter how many different cases you wish weren’t so, and no matter whether we have superpowers, magic, telepathy and more, I’m confident that as long as there is a duality, tragedy will always rear its ugly head. Existence as is requires tragedy. You cannot have serendipity without tragedy. What goes down must come up. Contrast is required to see what is tragic or what is lovely.
And if we solve all the current tragedies, new ones will pop up in time.
So you can continue to dream up .what ifs. and if you had Condition X solved, Eternal Happiness unlocks. Where you’re in a completely different reality. You can dream about the hypothetical world where tragedy doesn’t exist: but even that world will come with its own tribulations, setbacks.
You can either find this depressing or liberating. Because when you realize that, no matter what, tragedy comes with existence, you can either spend all your life fixating on something that’ll always be there, hoping that with enough thought it’ll go away, or you can instead spend your time focusing on the positives. With whatever life you roll in this world, you have that choice. You can spend all day doing comparisons and seeking justification for who has the worse starting hand, but every set of cards has the ability to choose what they focus on.
That, although yes, we can get lost into the comparison game, ranking which tragedy is worse, the only thing that really matters is your mental fortitude. To swat negatives away when they comes buzzing near. One could have visited every country’s port and still feel like a poor sailor. How many kings have passed through our realm and felt the same uselessness! They were gifted everything and only received it with spite, mourning how it doesn’t last forever. (Why not walk with swagger toward the seemingly impossible quest of immortality? Maybe some already succeeded.)
Tragedy is here to stay, no matter what you dream. To those that still wish the world is no longer, let me reword what mental fortitude is: Paradise is a thought away. Why give up on the world if that’s the case? The tragedies of your life can either be a catalyst or crumble you into an abyss. It is [the test]{.underline} and the gateway to your internal heaven. That’s the point of it all. That’s the choice. You can either begin practicing that mental fortitude today, to cultivate a positive spin and thereby walk through your birthright or find yourself mourning once more, even if you had that other life or other world where everything that bothered you stopped (for new bothers will pop up in its steed).
A dualistic world without tragedy is not possible. It doesn’t matter how much I wish it so for everyone. A world with free will, choice, contrast cannot have joy without tragedy, for each defines the other. But a positive mind in spite of every single configuration, every single life and circumstance — that possibility exists.
A world [despite]{.underline} tragedy. That’s what you want, right?
Maybe you see the silver linings. Maybe you see those who clearly are better off, but it doesn’t matter because you know it’s all the same, or how the best things in life are free. Maybe you love how they get caught up in these small things, and you do too. Got plenty of small funny stories to share. Hidden smiles. Maybe you just find more and more of the laughing and the weightless bird nests and you wonder how it ever got built.
You’re surprised how much time you have to do what you want. How there’s a thousand books and lectures online to help you sculpt such time into whatever you want. But you can also have the confidence to go at it alone. Maybe you’ll try out making a comic book as you always wanted to do. You can always start today, you got a long-short life ahead of you. Think of all the others who started out late and yet sit among giants! But the only audience here is yourself anyway, who cares of fame! There’s little preventing you from making a comic book that your younger self would’ve loved. Now if only you could contain your excitement and get started.
Maybe you remember how all families have their ups and downs. Along with countries too. And time periods most definitely, I’ll say thanks to blankets and varied delicious food.
Maybe people messed up and you eventually forgive that. That’s impressive and hard to do. Maybe you forgive your own shortcomings too since you’re forgiving others. That it’s not about being dumb, it’s about acting dumb — the same with smart: no being smart, just smart actions. Where sometimes people will criticize and that’s okay, you source your worth internally. You know failures are the pathway to success. And relationships are a great test of patience that you’ll take on to prove everyone wrong, when you find people worth the time. You’re floating around all these people who think about disappointment, rejection, and you’re finding it strange. Maybe, you think… you think if you just say, .you aren’t a lost cause I hope you know. that it’ll let them float too. You wonder why everything feels infinite despite our finite time; the endless possibility, what a strange show we’re all in. You got your part in this celestial play, you always will.
Maybe you know the world will always be, and is rife with opportunity. Maybe you remember the darker parts, far darker than what we know. And hope to give some light to them, and be thankful for the light in your part of the world. Whatever knot you got building on the bad days, it’ll loosen because you remember how much is going right despite. You got your part in this celestial play.
Maybe the fire invigorates you to go higher. You’re closer than you think to flying out. You aren’t sure why things have to always stay limp. You want to help the next civilization, fuse in what you think is the best of humanity. Strange and flowing humanity, its the things in-between and maybe you’ll find it incredulous that we were here. You can graffiti in your name and let it show on the global tapestry.
Let’s not go quiet into the night.