Sunday, December 6, 2015

The other cheek

I think this ranks as the most awful self-portrait I've ever drawn. 



It's difficult to be positive. It's way harder to see the bright side and the ups than what's bad and foul. And I don't mean in art, I mean in life. It's easy to be bitter. Humans are vindictive creatures. It takes effort to forgive. Everything has to fall in line in order for happiness to happen, and just one thing needs to go wrong in order to potentially ruin your day. After that you're never too far from shouting at babies, throwing obscenities in traffic, and just about giving up on friendship. Revenge.

Being mean can be a means instant gratification, to say something and hurt another can feel like a victory. It can just feel good. Or at least we think it will make us feel better. But negativity is always the easy way out. To give up and give in. Being nice often implies something sacrificed, and the returns are hardly ever felt right away.

But they're there, right? They must be. The rewards lie somewhere in the long run. Being mean is chocolate, diplomacy is a diet and being nice is physical exercise. In a moment of weakness, it's tempting to give in. We've all been there. Said and done things we're not proud of, and maybe, in absolute honesty, it had more to do with ourselves than anyone else. It was not their fault, but your problem. Projection.

So we need to try. We need to make an effort. It will always be easier to break than to build. It takes courage to give happiness a chance, and we can't always be courageous. But we owe it to ourselves to try.

Turn the other cheek, Jesus said. I'm not a religious man, but there is wisdom here. It's not easy, but it's probably worth it.

2 comments:

  1. I liked this a lot. That's all. One thumb up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I liked it too. I sincerely did. You write well, Victor!

    ReplyDelete

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