Back to the past

The immortal words of Thomas Paine: “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow” written nearly four centuries ago lays testament to the depth of human though and life philosophies that have spanned till date.

Yet, today we live in a world so consumed and enveloped with ideals and thoughts that are churned out from the 24-hour advertising cycle that we’ve almost lost perspective of what it means to become human, to fail countless times, dust off our sleeves and carry on. It is a mean and totally warped world where we expect God-like qualities of perfection from our fellow compatriots as well as ourselves.

Even worse, we’re expecting it to be inborn, that somehow, a “good person” never makes mistakes or erred in his life? Born “perfected” any deviant from this trait is looked at with wholesome disdain and criticisms that can many times serve to cripple his spirit and crush his soul.

The more important traits of humanity – falling and learning from mistakes, to esteem and be grateful for the very breath that we have and to be a little more compassionate to our fellow humanity for their not too perfect selves… these which are the very things that make us human are today clouded in a mesh of images and “realities” that are neatly edited and packaged within 30-minute episodes that have come to define how we view our world today.

Hardly anyone ever goes out to “smell the roses” anymore. After all, the roses from TV seems more life-like and are almost always captured with the best of the glowing evening sun. Alas, we’ve come to the stage that nothing real is good enough anymore. Synthetic holds victory in a world we’re systematically destroying where once we build the blocks to its sustainability and wonder.

We need to relearn the very things that once made us human. To realize that not every failing demands a death warrant and that we can actually gather strength and overcome our distresses. And for God’s sake, stop jumping off the balcony each time the Dow tanks 300 points. Our Creator made us more resilient and better people than that which we think we are.