[Ramble] "Hug me tight; tell me that everything's gonna be alright."

Well, I'd say that everything will be alright, but that would be a lie, wouldn't it?

I can sometimes see a bunch of children on the street, happily playing with a 2-cent plastic soccer ball. It made me upset. When I see that ball, I see underpaid workers that can barely see their families, plastic pollution, global warming, manipulative marketing, company lies. When I see those children, I see the faces of ignorant young bastards that know nothing about the world beyond their own country, beyond the boundaries of their native traditional tongue, beyond the boundaries of the religions they were assigned with at birth.

"Love me dearest, and tell me that everything's gonna be alright."

I don't want to be a liar, so I'll instead say that, no, there are things that won't be okay. Things will sometimes go the way you specifically don't want it to be, things will fall apart, everything you know will be torn apart and you're left standing as someone you don't even recognize. Things change and bad things happen, adversaries come and hardships visit like a beggar you couldn't shoo away. There are times where everything won't make sense, there are times where you'll be left seemingly without an exit from certain doom.

But that's the thing, I guess. The world is never okay, it's never okie-dokie-lokie. It's always "What just happened" and "What the fudge" and "Oh God no"s. It's never the heaven that every motivational poster claim, never the sanctuary every supposedly reassuring phrase utter.

And yet.

And yet there are people who smile. There are people who laugh, and chuckle, and giggle, and say that the world is kinda neat. There are people out there, enjoying the world with lung cancer and a cigarette on their lips. There are people out there without plumbed toilets that laughs while carrying their manure to the nearest sinkhole. There are people out there happily driving their rusted-down cars, listening to a broken radio that only works if you hit it in a certain way every few minutes. There are stressed-out people drowning in taxes and debts and divorce that can happily enjoy their meals and a cup of 5-cent tea that has too much sugar in it.

There are people who couldn't comprehend this. There are people who got even more upset and unhappy that they couldn't be as happy as these people are, even if objectively they live a more sustainable and accomplished life. People would say that it is how we see the world that makes us happy, and as cheesy and ubiquitous as it sounds, I agree. But not in the sense of "Focus on the good things" or "Think positive", it's more in the lines of "Focus on what you can do." It's not "Be grateful for what you have", it's "If there's nothing you can do about it, why bother?"

There's nicotine addiction⁠—when some see their upset parents and inevitable cancer, some others see that the only thing they can do is research and seek help. There's a physics test that they hadn't studied for yet⁠—when some see the foreseeable failing and semester repeat, some others see future tests that can average out that one to a passable grade. There are spiteful and frankly idiotic politicians⁠—when some see World War 3, some others see meme potential. There are people who make fun of serious business⁠—when some see attention whores, some others see a sanctuary in which laughter can be heard in this bleak and unforgiving world.

"Come here, love, and tell me that everything's gonna be alright."

I can sometimes see a bunch of children on the street, happily playing with a 2-cent plastic soccer ball. It made me upset. But then I look away, and I couldn't get myself to argue why I shed a tear. When I didn't look at them, I see a bunch of happy children with so much potential, so much energy, so many friends to lean on, so much meaning all around them and so much purpose in every action they take. When I didn't look at the ball, I see a kind-hearted man that would go tens of kilometers driving a battered motorcycle that he bought some two decades ago just to sell some plastic balls the kids would always buy after school, to see them smile if not to feed the family he no longer has.

So, "Yes, Betty. Everything's gonna be okay."

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

People are so willing to see the bad, if you're not happy then you must be sad.

Nobody really knows the future, so why kill myself with conjecture?

[Super Trampoline]

This is why we need socialism: to reduce suffering so everyone can be happy.

[Reese]

"People would say that it is how we see the world that makes us happy, and as cheesy and ubiquitous as it sounds, I agree."
That sounds cheesy and ubiquitous? ...Maybe it's just me immediately connecting that with Stoic philosophy...
Though from the sound of it, you might have too.