Monday, February 26, 2007
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Sunday, February 11, 2007
Monday, February 5, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Economics of the Mind
The world does not change; we are the ones that change... I don't remember where I first heard this saying (or something similar to it), but there is some truth to it.
We as humans persist on the notion that happiness can be attained, and thus continue to carry on in our lives. During our life-long endeavors and sidequests, we neglect and relinquish parts of ourselves only to replace them with newer, more refined constituents. We think that the world has changed in some way, but upon reminiscence, we come to realize that it is our own selves that change.
As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." We are bound to run ourselves into a stupor if we constantly ponder logical puzzles that have no definitive answer. Maybe that's why philosophy is thought of as something reserved for those at the end of their ropes, for they are the ones whom are served well by notions of letting bygones be bygones.
As for the young, they are to grasp onto whatever they can get their hands on and run with it for as long as their youth affords them, knowing in the back of their minds that there will come a day when they have to let go of everything. All the while, questioning whether their actions are justified or need justification in the first place.
I guess it is the nature of life for the young to take and the elderly to give. They give until they can give no more. Just when you think that they can no longer give, the young finally come to realize that the most important thing that the elderly can pass on - knowledge - was there for the taking all along, but was forsaken in favor of worldly objects.
It is these very objects that obstruct our paths to that elusive eudymonia state that each and every one of us long for. We long for that state of being, but lack the knowledge to attain it. We struggle only to find that happiness was always there with us, but we were just blind to the fact. It was present with every heartfelt conversation to be had, every friendly get-together, every family reunion (with much-loathed relatives no less), and every thought and emotion-filled moments of silence in between.
Feelings and emotions are renewed and amended, but we continue to seek the familiar. Once we have experienced it, it would be unjust to let go. Thus we reach out for familiarity but with a hint of the unfamiliar. We tire of the mundane so we seek the refreshing.
Cycling through my thoughts made me realize how a steady stream of interests and activities can bring about a joy that is not available with the occasional splurge or binge. It is always a goode idea to aim for the mean in everything we do, for too much or too little of something can only lead to negative consequences. It is negativity that we want to shy away from so we aim for the positive. Once we outgrow the positive, we start viewing that positive from a negative perspective and the cycle starts again.
It would seem then, that a healthy dose of opposing ideals would be in order to sustain eudymonia for the longest duration that we can handle. Trends change with the wind so we must follow or be left behind. Today's friend can very well turn out to be tomorrow's foe. The opposite is true as well.
Our monotonous existences rely on intermittent instances of chaos to give it balance. After all, how can we appreciate all the good in our lives without the bad? We can if we abandon the dualistic nature of our seemingly innate instincts. But that would only lead to a dogmatic existence that poses no real value to our current aims. Now if we ever achieve such an existence, would it still matter? Would this life of mine bear any significance if I am destined to be forgotten once my physical time is up? If there is no afterlife, would all that I've experienced in this life matter at all?
I long for answers, but I know that upon reception of said answers, I will only be left with more questions. And thus, the cycle continues.....
We as humans persist on the notion that happiness can be attained, and thus continue to carry on in our lives. During our life-long endeavors and sidequests, we neglect and relinquish parts of ourselves only to replace them with newer, more refined constituents. We think that the world has changed in some way, but upon reminiscence, we come to realize that it is our own selves that change.
As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." We are bound to run ourselves into a stupor if we constantly ponder logical puzzles that have no definitive answer. Maybe that's why philosophy is thought of as something reserved for those at the end of their ropes, for they are the ones whom are served well by notions of letting bygones be bygones.
As for the young, they are to grasp onto whatever they can get their hands on and run with it for as long as their youth affords them, knowing in the back of their minds that there will come a day when they have to let go of everything. All the while, questioning whether their actions are justified or need justification in the first place.
I guess it is the nature of life for the young to take and the elderly to give. They give until they can give no more. Just when you think that they can no longer give, the young finally come to realize that the most important thing that the elderly can pass on - knowledge - was there for the taking all along, but was forsaken in favor of worldly objects.
It is these very objects that obstruct our paths to that elusive eudymonia state that each and every one of us long for. We long for that state of being, but lack the knowledge to attain it. We struggle only to find that happiness was always there with us, but we were just blind to the fact. It was present with every heartfelt conversation to be had, every friendly get-together, every family reunion (with much-loathed relatives no less), and every thought and emotion-filled moments of silence in between.
Feelings and emotions are renewed and amended, but we continue to seek the familiar. Once we have experienced it, it would be unjust to let go. Thus we reach out for familiarity but with a hint of the unfamiliar. We tire of the mundane so we seek the refreshing.
Cycling through my thoughts made me realize how a steady stream of interests and activities can bring about a joy that is not available with the occasional splurge or binge. It is always a goode idea to aim for the mean in everything we do, for too much or too little of something can only lead to negative consequences. It is negativity that we want to shy away from so we aim for the positive. Once we outgrow the positive, we start viewing that positive from a negative perspective and the cycle starts again.
It would seem then, that a healthy dose of opposing ideals would be in order to sustain eudymonia for the longest duration that we can handle. Trends change with the wind so we must follow or be left behind. Today's friend can very well turn out to be tomorrow's foe. The opposite is true as well.
Our monotonous existences rely on intermittent instances of chaos to give it balance. After all, how can we appreciate all the good in our lives without the bad? We can if we abandon the dualistic nature of our seemingly innate instincts. But that would only lead to a dogmatic existence that poses no real value to our current aims. Now if we ever achieve such an existence, would it still matter? Would this life of mine bear any significance if I am destined to be forgotten once my physical time is up? If there is no afterlife, would all that I've experienced in this life matter at all?
I long for answers, but I know that upon reception of said answers, I will only be left with more questions. And thus, the cycle continues.....
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