Cynicism

Cynicism:

I had some new thoughts about cynicism recently, probably because recently I was feeling pretty down in the dumps. God really was good to me though, and sent me some really awesome fellow believers to share God's love with me, to pray for me, and to totally inspire me and lift me up. I wish I had more faith, but as long as I was lacking in it, I'm so grateful that God sent me tangible, visible, and material expressions of his light and love for me!

Warning: This blog is not going to extensively cover the various paths out of depression, negativity, or cynicism, but will only attempt to define and explain the issue.

For my introduction, I will show you pictures that represent the mindset of young optimism, negative pessimism, and true realism.

Young Optimism Pessimism Realism

As you can see, kids start off with a naturally optimistic and trusting veiw of the world. They realize, after a while, that there is bad in the world, but their view of good is bigger than that, and life as a whole seems relatively good. This view is also known as being naive. They do not have a realistic view of all the bad that is out there, but their frame of mind is correct.

People sometimes move on to pessimism, or negatively, especially after they've experienced some of the greater evils in the world. After seeing violence, betrayed trust, death, or abuse, people gain a much clearer picture of all the evils in the world, and how dark it can get. They dismiss optimism as ignorance, because they have seen with their own eyes how nasty and how dirty the world is. Their view of evil is bigger their view of good - this is also a depressed mindset.

Finally, a realist, a wise person, has not only seen how bad it gets, but also has seen and knows how good it gets! Despite how evil this world is, God is in charge, and his wisdom, beauty, power, creativity, faithfulness, and justice are SO MUCH GREATER than all the bad stuff! "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) They don't deny the existance of evil, and they are not ignorant of it, but they know so much more of the good that the pessimist knows! In their pie chart, they have the slice of evil, yes, but even more slice of good! Yet the pessimist will dismiss this person as being "naive."