Thought 179: The Pessimists of this world

There are always, of course, the Charlie Browns (the cartoon Character) of this world, who hold their heads in both their hands, with a deep furrow on their forehead, every time when things do not go as planned or as wished. Such people always think, “Heaven is going to fall on the earth” right now - if what they wished does not happen. They wallow in self pity and think that they have been singled out to suffer in this cruel world – while all others (who, in their perception, have no talent or who committed worse blunders or who are crooked) are getting everything that they never deserved. They lament that they are born only to become the Martyrs of this world. These are the pessimists of this world who find no joy in life - and constantly whine, saying, “Life, where is thy sting?”

Such persons regularly predict the Doomsday (called Pralaya in Sanskrit). I remember how every body predicted that the computers will stop working on the first day of this Millennium and consequently, the technological world would come to a stand still suddenly and catastrophically - but there was no such problem, of course, to the utter disappointment of these pessimists. If there was a bomb blast somewhere in India, they say “That is it – we are all going to die soon”. The pessimist is basically frightened of life. His problems are usually ‘tiny and tidy’ – but he paints them to appear as “big and dirty” to the world. He spends his time happily addressing these “big and dirty” problems that are not there.

The pessimists of this world always see “the glass is half empty with water”. They only see the dark clouds in the sky - but fail to see even the silver lining in those dark clouds. The Charlie Browns of this world essentially are not only pessimists but are also cowards; they are always overwhelmed by the problems of the world – and feel helpless. Being frightened of life, they stew themselves in their own self pity. They portray themselves as the martyrs, who bear the cross for the sins of the world - and glad to do so. They have an attitude which proclaims to the world that they do not mind crucifixion to save the humanity.

The next thought is about “Escapism is the way of life for some persons”