…That apathy has its purpose?
Sometimes you have to ask yourself if it really matters that much…
There are different ways to look at apathy. It is not as though I would suggest that a person have no heart or soul… that they shouldn’t bother caring about the ills of the world or the people in their lives. Not at all.
But I do wonder why there are days when I can take nearly anything that is in front of me and turn it inwards as though there were something about “it” that was an affront to my very being. What is it that causes me to feel that things are personal and that I am “owed”? Why does life have a tendency during stressful or overwhelming periods to get so intense and uncomfortable? Is it because I can care too much?
Therefore I have to ask if that is necessary.
I have a tendency of hanging around debate boards and reading about the things that are wrong with the world of politics, crime, people and places. I would love to believe that in debate there is a “right” and a “wrong” to argue… but for the most part I have discovered either everyone is right or everyone is wrong. Anger and posturing are the nature of the postings and the end result isn’t really about sharing ideas and thoughts that might enlighten… but only about making sure that you’ve cleverly told another person or persons that they are an idiot for thinking as they do. Perhaps some people DO in fact have a warped sense of the world in front of them… but I have to pull back and ask myself whether or not this is for me to decide. Isn’t it true, to an extent, that they might believe my opinions of fact to be warped just the same?
Although it is unrealistic that I can or will pull away from listening to the arguments of the day, watching or hearing the news, reading an article that condemns or simply enlightens on all the many negatives that the world LOVES to expound upon… it is possible that I can stop internalizing the deep sadness that all this darkness can tend to spread.
So I ask myself again: Do I HAVE to care so much about what the right or left is screaming about on the topic of healthcare? Beyond sensing and understanding the tragedies of the day as being a part of life, that I have either experienced (or could in the future), do I have to feel the struggle and pull of these news items?
I don’t.
I have to believe that a little bit of apathy has to go a long way towards the happiness that I am seeking on a much more regular basis. I am not going to ignore the world and where it has its tendencies to focus… but I can remember that everything that happens in a workplace, on the road, in any day-to-day experience or in my personal life… isn’t necessarily all that important. Unless, of course, I make it so.
Be Happy. Be Well. Be.