To be honest, your comment made me think of myself a bit - in particular, the part where you talked about "desire."
I've seen that "desire" and all the forms it takes, as well as how it affects people and contributes to "change" in humans. It's something that's been a source of mild irritation and frustration for me, and honestly, that's about as negative as I can be about anything in general. However, if someone asked me "what is your desire?" I don't think I'd be able to answer them. The reason for this is because I actually
don't have any legitimate "desires" at this point. I already have everything I need (which is very little, ironically) and am content with it all. My nomadic lifestyle and my focus on benevolence and minimalism, as well as the odds I'm up against as a result...I'd never choose a different path. It's not because I want to be "different," it's not out of disdain for civilization, society, or humanity (and so it's not because I want to "get away" from all of that), and it's not because I want to "be tough" or to be some sort of "superhuman" or a "hero."
It's simply because this is the most natural path for me. I'm simply doing what's most natural for me, and it so happens that what's most natural for me involves a lifestyle most people now would cringe at, showing compassion and respect for the world and all things that share it with me (whether or not I "like" or "agree" with any of it). I don't really feel a "desire" for anything in particular - I
love learning about individual differences and learning new things in general, I
appreciate support from others, but I
dislike the idea of being a freeloader. As hard as my choice truly is, I can go outside and feel
joy and happiness every single day I'm alive, and I believe that if I can do this, then I should share that with others around me - human or not. This is my
compassion, and along with it, I harbor a
respect for all things.
However, you mentioned man fighting against his own negativity, and despite my positive outlook on life and everything in general, that doesn't mean I don't have my own dark side as well. I mentioned the duality of light and darkness in the "corruption" topic I linked to, and your perspective falls into it.
Each human has their own unique balance of light and darkness - in the context of this topic, you could equate it to "positivity" and "negativity." This means that no human has a perfect, equal amount of either; "perfection" is something that doesn't exist in humanity, despite what so much of humanity now believes. Each human's "scale" is rigged differently; some toward "light," and some toward "darkness." Furthermore, no two individuals' scales are rigged the same even within the same "orientation." This is part of the human fundamental called "individuality," and the common characteristics all throughout are that 1) No human's scale has a perfect balance of light and darkness, and 2) no human is "purely good" or "purely" evil. Here's the thing, though: echoing what I said in the topic post, I
cannot tell you or anyone else who isn't me how your scale is rigged - that's something each individual must figure out for themselves. Something I also know is that one's duality is "off-balance," the effects will make themselves apparent in the individual's being in some way. However, these effects will not only be different for each individual, but they will also be perceived differently from the perspectives of others.
In kind, when one achieves a "personal equilibrium" as I call it, the effects will also make themselves apparent in the individual's being in some way; true to "individuality," these effects will also be different for all individuals and will be perceived differently by others.
The thing about "fighting negativity," though, is something I've pondered pretty extensively, and it started with my own. It's easy now to say the people "should fight negativity and only let their light shine," but have you considered what happens when people are "blinded by light?" It happens more than people thank, and I can't ever recall an instance that wasn't "negative" in the end. Just as one can be blinded by darkness, so to can one be blinded by light; to avoid blindness by either side (in other words, "corruption"), one must embrace
both sides and assume control of their overall duality. In order to do this, you can't just look at one side or the other, but both at the same time. This is why I talked about looking not at either of the sides, but one's personal scale and how it's rigged. If you fight one side or the other, your scale is just going to be a perpetual see-saw, and you'll always be "struggling," not "fighting."
Managing one's personal scale and not allowing either side to take over and act as a veil while not forsaking outside ideas and perspective and at the same time not allowing them to influence your management...that's what you'd call "self-control," isn't it? There's a lot more to self-control than "scale management" and "staving off outside influence," but the point is that it's
not easy to do. In fact, this would likely be the most difficult trial for humanity - not just because it's "hard," but because maintaining that self-control is a lifelong endeavor.
Man's instinct for survival creates "Greed". It's not our fault, we and all living things are born
with it.. We sense something we we need or want and there it is. Lurking in our thoughts. We may
not be aware of it. But it is there hiding behind emotions or excuses for our thoughts or actions.
This makes me think of what my perspective of the "negative aspects of the human psyche." Greed is one; arrogance, disdain, discontent, misanthropy, bitterness, hatred, animosity, envy, jealousy, loathing, intolerance, spite, vengeance, apathy, and enmity are others. These are things
all humans have the capacity to feel, and I don't believe they are a problem on their own - it's when humans are
blinded and
controlled by them that we starting having problems like war, terrorism, wanton violence, ecocide, and so on.
It's true: all life is born with that kind of instinct. However, "greed" and every other aspect is attributable to the species called "humans." The reason for this, from my perspective, is because of all species, we humans are the one with the greatest mental and intellectual capacity. Ours is the greatest emotional range, and we humans are the ones whose actions make the most impact on the world overall - something that's pretty obvious at this point. However, the "human brain" has its own downfalls; the "blindness in humanity" I keep mentioning is one. It's what happens when those negative aspects of the human psyche take control. Thankfully, not all humans are like this even now, but considering the overall negative state of things, those humans and their efforts to bring a positive change are still being overshadowed by those who are blinded by the "other side." Of course, we can't forget the dual nature of this issue: being blinded by the
positive aspects of the human psyche would be no better than the negative side. As I see it, the issue isn't either "positivity or negativity," but being
blinded by either side.
Unfortunately, what I've seen in humanity in general (read: there are exceptions) now is a loss of "natural instinct," substituted by "human intelligence" and "higher thinking." We humans have all this technology at our disposal that makes our lives easier, but...things still aren't really "good" in the human world right now, even so; regarding "lack of instinct," this becomes most apparent during natural disasters. When you imagine, for example, a major flood or an approaching tornado, how do you think people react? During natural disasters, many people panic or are paralyzed by fear, and some even refuse to leave for fear of losing their "prized possessions" or simply because they "think they're safe."
I'm well-aware of how harsh nature can be - and from personal experience, no less. There's no point in mincing words here: if you're panicking or paralyzed with fear during a natural disaster, or you refuse to leave because you don't want to lose your possessions or you think you'll be safe, you'd be lucky to get out of it unscathed, and in fact,
you're probably going to die. I certainly understand and appreciate the purpose of rescue crew, shelters, and the like, but that is an
intellectual response to nature, not an
instinctual response. When I think of an "instinctual" response, I think of "dropping
everything without a second thought and high-tailing it out of the area." The fact that so many people can't or don't do that on their own in the midst of natural disasters and instead need to hear warning sirens or require the assistance of safety crews, and have to rely on technology and weather forecasting instead of
themselves doesn't really speak well of humanity's "instinctual" level - at least in that regard.
But then again...humans are continually trying to control nature for the purpose of advancement. I'm all for learning about nature, but do we really need to control it in the process? Considering that our roots like in nature, it seems like a "god-complex" of sorts - in other words, arrogance. However, the fact the humanity still endeavors to control nature for that purpose even though many humans have lose their lives in natural disasters is a testament to "blindness."
Honestly, I often wonder how far back in our history this happened, and why - if humanity in general pondered this, it would likely yield an answer to our own problems today.
Emotions are part of being "human," but the problem, again, is how many humans are controlled by their emotions. I've seen statements like "emotions are unnecessary and harmful and should be erased," but of course I can't help roll my eyes at that. Can you say you're "human" if you have no emotions? Why not try to
assume control of them, instead? I don't believe that emotions will be the end of us all; if anything, blindness to everything around us and in some cases ourselves, along with an overall lack of self-control in humanity, would bring our end.
But as you've said, we should not give up hope, and for me, that's no issue~ Though all these things bother me, one thing I do differently from many,
many people is turn "negativity" - in the case, my irritation, frustration, and negative emotions in response to all that's going on - into something
positive, both for myself and for others. Yeah, all this stuff bothers me, but I turn it into "fuel for my own drive," if you will. All this negative stuff going on spurs me to never falter in my lifestyle choice; considering how hard it truly is, that kind of approach is crucial. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that "my survival depends on my drive, my passion, my determination, and my conviction," because I'm not afraid of perilous circumstances - something that would inevitably come with my choice.
And so, I will not lose hope. Simply being able to go outside and connect with and immerse myself in what's around me keeps me going...and that doesn't take any effort at all, really. d: