I Dare You

I’m fed up with cynicism.

I didn’t really encounter large doses of cynicism until I came to the United States. In college, when people acted bitter and negative, I kept looking for reasons. I couldn’t understand why a teenager, attending a decent college with a healthy body and a caring family would have reason to be so scornful. What had already happened in his life to make him so distrustful and so full of hatred?

My childhood, while not uneventful, was pretty decent compared to how it could have been. We had ups and downs but no major calamities. I lived through a divorce and a remarriage, way too much teasing for a soul like mine to handle, and a constant lack of belonging. But I never turned bitter. I’m not asking for a pat in the back. I had other emotions to deal with. I was sad to the point of misery. I chose to run away, leaving behind a family I adored and starting my life all over again. It just never occurred to me to be a cynic.

So for the longest time, I kept thinking that these people must have had a much more miserable life than I had had and that I had no right to judge how they dealt with it. It wasn’t like I’d dealt with my issues maturely. Running away hardly deserved praise.

Now that years have passed, I’ve decided that just like running away, cynicism is total crap. It’s useless to the person who hides behind it and to the world in general. Talk about a wasted emotion.

Just like running away, a cynical attitude is a copout. It’s choosing to hide behind a mask that will be used as an excuse not to take any responsibility. It’s taking the easy way out.

It’s so much easier to sit there and complain. It’s so much easier to distrust. It’s so much easier to hide behind the protective walls of anger.

I’ve come to believe that having faith is a much harder emotion than lacking it. Not in the religious sense, though that case might apply too, but in the day-to-day interactions. Expecting a person to cross you gives you an excuse to feel justified when the person does, intentionally or not, end up doing something that’s not in your favor. When kicked, it’s so much simpler to say “See I told you so?” or “What’s the point of getting up when I’ll end up back down here again?”

What’s hard is picking yourself up and trying again. What’s hard is trusting others. What’s hard is smiling and being happy. Believing in yourself. Believing in others. Believing that there is still so much you can do for the world and having the courage to try.

Recently, I was telling my manager about my intentions of starting a non-profit organization and he kept telling me that it was a waste of my time, my passion, and my intelligence. He said that I can’t change the world. I looked at him and simply replied, “You’re wrong.“

What if everyone felt the way he did?

It’s easy to be cynical. It’s hard to give it all you got.

I dare you to be happy. I dare you to trust others. I dare you to drop your mask and put yourself out there. I dare you to give it all you got.

I double-dare you.

Previously? More Than Genes