Indifference and Self-Restraint and Cynicism

Indifference and Self-Restraint and Cynicism

The heading of this Sunday's musing captured my current outlook on and attitude towards the human animals. Yesterday, a young woman with the most shapely legs I have ever seen walked in front of me. Ordinarily, I would come to her and pay her the compliment (more than three years ago, in the summer of 2011, I wrote a pretty poem and a mini short story about similar encounter, in English of course), but I restrained myself. I took a turn and walked away from her and felt liberated. We open ourselves to the world, but we selectively take in what the world offers. For a few minutes, I took in the aesthetic beauty of her legs, but then I decided that a few minutes were enough. To dwell further on the beauty of her legs was a form of undue attachment. It's not wise to form lasting attachments to transitoriness. Beauty is transitory. Love is not; neither is kindness. 

Not too long ago, I wrote the following to a friend: "Life is a sum of experiences and choices. From what I've been through, I would say you were very lucky that he paid you back. Run, don't walk, away from him. Please don't play poker in home  games. If you have an itch, spend a weekend at a casino. But you're an adult. Do whatever you want to do. I gave you a piece of advice because I cared. I just don't want you to get hurt as I did. Remember, unless one's life depends on it, a self-respecting person must not borrow money or beg for hand-outs. One must not lower oneself in the eyes of others. I think it is dishonorable to borrow money for gambling. To lend money for such an enterprise is a sign of weakness, an inability to say no. In life, one must give a firm No answer when the situation warrants it." Yes, I am getting harder and more cynical. The assholes in this world have made me to adapt and become wiser. Human animals are the creatures deserving to be killed and exterminated so only the good and kind humans are left. Now you know why extremists behave the way they do and why the good folks have no choice but to band together in defeating them. From my unlearned, layman's view about evolution of life, at least on this planet anyway, life is a struggle/fight/development/evolvement from chaos to order, simplicity to complexity, malignancy to goodness. Along the way there are occasional interruptions/reversals, but the direction appears to be the one-way street. Of course, logic dictates that the linear development is not tenable. At some point, complete breakdown occurs and the process starts all over again, from the "beginning" of simplicity. That is, from "singularity" to complexity and back to "singularity" again. But that prospect  is so far away that I don't really worry about it. There's nothing I can do to slow down or speed up the process. My pressing and present prerogative is to deal with the human animals which lurk in bushes or hide behind phony smiles. 

(To be continued)