Aug 30 2007
Pessimism vs Activism in Daily Life
“The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar . . grows thinner with each day. On the other hand, a person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it away neatly and carefully, after having first jotted down a few diary notes on the page.” Viktor E. Frankl (Creator of logotherapy , Nazi concentration camp survivor)
Each day is unique. One must banish fear from every aspect of his life so that each day can be actualized to its full potential. Once you start actualizing things in your life, the satisfaction you receive from this will help to give you the strength to banish some of your insecurities. Maybe you hesitated to talk to that attractive woman sitting next to you at the sushi bar when you really wanted to or failed to make a decisive decision when it was needed or appeased someone rather than be true to yourself thinking it isn’t a big deal. All three are essentially the same thing. Don’t hide in a world of your own creation because when you do, that world will not be one that mixes well with the real world. Each insecurity, each thing you wish you could do, but hesitate to do, has a solution. Often these solutions are just a matter of learning a new skill which you can find resources for.
Activism not optimism (and certainly not pessimism) is the order of everyday!! A saint in his own world does nothing for the world, and an average frustrated chump in his own world is pathetic. Step up and Be the man!!
Required Reading: 
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl We all live trying to find meaning in our lives, what we don’t realize often enough is that there are those that have come before us who have experienced things that can help us on this path. Don’t wait, read this book!
