Optimizing Optimism
Nostalgia for me is becoming an all to distracting problem. When I was in High School and College I kept thinking, "Everyone keeps saying these are the best years of my life. Funny...it never seems like that right now..." I must say, I did have a very good time then. I think the reason that this has come to my attention right now is that at those points you get to make the social decisions which are the biggest part of shaping whom you become. Your friends are the ones who guide your likes, memories and goals. You spend so much time in a socially welcome environment (well, at least I did) that when you are yanked from it you experience a second Freudian Womb-wanting (it was Freud right? With the bathtubs imitating the womb?)
Once you get out of those times you are actually responsible for achieving those goals you set based on the moral codes you shaped. Gradually these will become more defined and developed, but eventually they will stabilize (or you'll have a mid-life crisis).
So right now I am in a socially cold climate. Everyone at work is nice, but because of the diverse background and likes/dislikes it becomes harder. Not that cliques seemed good at the time, but in a way they are a social protection racket. So it is not that surprising to me that I am having such feelings of nostalgia (I miss you all so much!)
However, as I said before, it never seemed to me that I was living the best times of my life then. I always wanted to make the future brighter. After all, if there aren't better days ahead, why bother with all of this work?
So now I feel that my focus should be on fostering optimism and to recognize the dangers of nostalgia. I don't think this is a problem just for me. I think as a nation we need that optimism. When I look back on the times I wish I had lived in, they were times of Scientific Optimism when anything was possible. Then 3 world wars later (yes, the Cold War counts), here we are! I don't want to blame it on the media (Nixon would!), but there is a whole bunch of whining going on.
I read an article today about how NASA's fact finding council got rebuked by a Senator who was whining that we can't get back to the moon by 2010. Instead they should have asked, "What can we as Congress do to help NASA reclaim it's glory and purpose?" The answer I would give is to instead ask, "How can we as Americans return that can-do, nothing is impossible except impossibility itself attitude?"
All I hear though when I turn on the TV news is, "But I want to go to the Tashi Station to pick up some power converters..."
We need to stop worshiping the past and instead start asking, "How can we make the future better?" Always remember that today is tomorrow's nostalgia. We can't let today pass by too quickly. And if we are too worried about being like the past, nothing will ever get done.
Once you get out of those times you are actually responsible for achieving those goals you set based on the moral codes you shaped. Gradually these will become more defined and developed, but eventually they will stabilize (or you'll have a mid-life crisis).
So right now I am in a socially cold climate. Everyone at work is nice, but because of the diverse background and likes/dislikes it becomes harder. Not that cliques seemed good at the time, but in a way they are a social protection racket. So it is not that surprising to me that I am having such feelings of nostalgia (I miss you all so much!)
However, as I said before, it never seemed to me that I was living the best times of my life then. I always wanted to make the future brighter. After all, if there aren't better days ahead, why bother with all of this work?
So now I feel that my focus should be on fostering optimism and to recognize the dangers of nostalgia. I don't think this is a problem just for me. I think as a nation we need that optimism. When I look back on the times I wish I had lived in, they were times of Scientific Optimism when anything was possible. Then 3 world wars later (yes, the Cold War counts), here we are! I don't want to blame it on the media (Nixon would!), but there is a whole bunch of whining going on.
I read an article today about how NASA's fact finding council got rebuked by a Senator who was whining that we can't get back to the moon by 2010. Instead they should have asked, "What can we as Congress do to help NASA reclaim it's glory and purpose?" The answer I would give is to instead ask, "How can we as Americans return that can-do, nothing is impossible except impossibility itself attitude?"
All I hear though when I turn on the TV news is, "But I want to go to the Tashi Station to pick up some power converters..."
We need to stop worshiping the past and instead start asking, "How can we make the future better?" Always remember that today is tomorrow's nostalgia. We can't let today pass by too quickly. And if we are too worried about being like the past, nothing will ever get done.