Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Why nice people suffer

My marvelous friend Nick Leonard observed that the nicest people we know are those plagued with depression and personal insecurities while the nasty, pushy ambitious people we both avoid because they are so unpleasant seem to forge ahead on their chosen path, shouting their successes to the world. Why is that?
It breaks my heart that the sensitive, loving people I care about suffer from addictions, depression and deep unhappiness. And so I offer this answer to Nick and all the rest of you who ponder such a sad reality: Sensitive people evaluate their lives. They read, observe and consider all the alternatives to the path they have chosen. They are uncertain because they are wise enough to realize that there is no right or wrong. There is only what is now. They care very much, not just about their own homeostasis but about others'. They have the capacity to love more than themselves. They hurt when they see pain. They bleed for a sick, unhappy world.
Sometimes, because they are good, caring human beings, the destruction and slaughter both psychological and phsysical that has become a trademark of our age overwhelms them. They turn to drugs or alcohol to dull the pain. They redirect their grief at mankind's malaise into themselves and become suicidal or depressed. They forget that the only person they can ever help is themselves. They forget this because they are so generous and they care that much about humanity.
How can we not adore them?
On the other hand, bullies, loud, over-confident people don't bother to think They don't evaluate the quality of their lives. They grab every ring they can and tell us it was gold. We believe them because they are so brash and insistent. They tell us how marvelous they are and we envy them because we, who are intelligent and perceptive, know that we ourselves have such a long way to go before we get to where we hope to be. We wish we could be as confident of ourselves as they.
In reality, it is the responsive and feeling people who are actually living their lives. They experience the pain that creates growth, and they will reap the glory of honest achievement
I promise you that
Those others...those pushy, obnoxious, agressive pushers only think they have gotten somewhere. In reality they are running with much racket, and very fast, but like Alice, they never move forward. They remain stuck in the same rusted rut they created in the first place.

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