Thoughts
Sometimes it feels like we want someone to tell us what to do. How do I fix this problem, improve this, do less of this, etc. Perhaps we are lost, maybe we’re looking for someone to blame? A scapegoat so that we can remain without fault. Will we find satisfaction or happiness this way? Do we already ask others to do this in some parts of our lives? Should we? There isn’t enough time to research everything before we act on anything. How do we decide what is most important and therefore what to dive into ourselves and what to entrust to others?
Life is so complex and complicated. There are endless possibilities that every choice inevitably leads to. I believe we should be wary of anyone who mentions “easy fixes” or one step solutions. Anyone who says “if only this one thing were different, life would be so much better.” These people are either actively manipulating or just as lost as the rest of us. I think we, as humans, are hard-wired to put people, things, places into boxes. This is “good,” this is “bad.” Sometimes this serves us well, most times it is destructive and/or reductive.
When do we tell others that their actions are hurting us? Everyone is going through something, do we let them go through it and hope it passes? Are our feelings more or less warranted when someone is hurting us?
Does anyone want anything more than a friend? Someone to confide in, vent to, gossip with, be honest with, work out thoughts? So many relationships in our lives eventually morph into friendships, in one way or another (some just friendships alone, some alongside other relationships). There are so many special connections we make throughout our lives, but our close friends seem to occupy such a sacred place.
Where is the line in being recognized/appreciated and doing things for ourselves? Can we exist living solely extrinsically or intrinsically? Is it a matter of finding which things we can find inwardly fulfilling and which we find outwardly fulfilling? Or is each activity a mix of both?