the optimist in me thinks...
everyone would surely agree that i'm such an optimistic gal. i take criticisms constructively, and when everything around me seems not to go as planned, i always think that this is just another set back that would surely come to pass - with the perception that "hey, there is always light at the end of the dark, long tunnel."
but yesterday, during art appreciation class, the following words from my professor made the optimist in me think:
"life is generally sad. people just drag themselves to happiness. why? because if you try to look at it, life is nothing but a series of loses. you lose your milk teeth at six, you lose your favorite toy at seven...and as you grow up, you lose people. you lose your high school friends, your grandparents, your parents, etc. loses that would surely leave you in deep pain. loses that are never ending. "
i think about it the whole night (yes, im THAT pathetic). and now, i was able to come up with the following answers to my professor's claim:
people who are happy don't drag themselves into it - they've just learned the virtue called ACCEPTANCE and enjoy the things that they have even if they know that one day, they would surely lose that thing that is causing them happiness. "savoring every moment", as a cliche goes.
on loses: yes, its a given fact. and yes, its never ending. but if you try to look at it, life is not just about it. life is also about HAVING. and i have this belief that you lose something because there is something, or someone better in store for you. you may lose your milk teeth, but sooner or later, the permanent one would grow - stronger, has a longer "life span", better. you may lose your high school friends but you will find a new set in college. and about losing people through death, well, like i've said, its inevitable. also, i think that the things you lose aren't really moving away from your grasp as you thought. like our loved ones who died, for instance, though they can no longer be with us physically, but they are still alive, in our memories and in our hearts. and i believe that they are be watching us - from somewhere. i don't know, but i have this habit of talking to my deceased grandfather in my head (died when i was 12, and when he's still alive, he always claims that im his favorite grandchild) whenever im in a critical situation (i.e., about to be called in a recitation, walking in the dark side of the street) and believe it or not, it always works. you don't lose your highschool friends, being geographically separated and loosing contact doesn't necessarily follow that the friendship ended. whenever i bump across a high school friend of mine, and the way we talk to each other, its as if we are still the same beings three years ago, as if nothing has changed. on top of it all, i believe that loses are there not to cause us great pain, but rather, to make us stronger to face another series of loses.