Pessimistic Optimism

Day 2
Experience is the ultimate teacher. There are some things that just cannot be learned from books. As a bibliophile myself, this is a difficult truth to swallow. I find it easier to deal with books than with real life. Life is messy. Life is painful. Books have a measure of distance from them. If you don't like what's happening, you can put it down and come back later. You share the character's journey, but never to the full capacity. The pages between you and the event serve as a type of protection from the full brunt of any blow. But as my professor said today, it's a good thing that life is painful! Because of the pain, we actually feel. Better to live in the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, than in some dreadful monotony that dulls the senses. I have yet to decide. It's not like I have lived enough, seen enough, done enough, to understand the full brunt of life's moments. I have never been in love. I have never experienced the death of a loved one. I may have faced some "unfortunate" events or been caught up in teenage infatuation, but I have yet to grasp the true thing. My experience is like looking through a clouded window; there is only a hazy recollection once the time has passed.
One thing that experience and age takes away though is the endless hope that the younger generation has. Perhaps hope isn't the right word. Rather, it's this infatuation with dreams and schemes and belief that nothing can go wrong yet. A child's infatuation with life, embracing what may come, is indicative of this. And yet, time passes. Children grow up, and in the words from a movie with a terminal cancer patient played by Benedict Cumberbatch:

"We've all forgotten that moment when we realize that we'll never play in the world cup finals or be the first man on mars and all those dreams become fantasies instead of possibilities."

Isn't that so true? The only difference in growing up is that we cease to believe in the possibilities. We decide that dreams can only be fantasies and never become true. In this way, the mindset of a child is a beautiful thing. Instead of dismissing the concept entirely, they ask why not? Why not try? Why can't it be possible? What is stopping me? My parents have always encouraged me to follow my dreams, to imagine what I can do and then, instead of saying it can't be done, consider what steps, no matter how small, can be taken to make it possible! Better to live like this! Live like the world's problems can be tackled. Live like the glass is half-full so that, in turn, you end up seeing it that way too. I don't want to say live optimistically; neither, though, should you live in a state of perpetual pessimism. Find a balance in your dreaming and rationalizing. But above all, live it out!