Let Me Renew Your Hope in a World That is All Doom & Gloom

the internet and the news that is being fed to us is genuinely making the world seem all doom & gloom.

it has us convinced most of us that the world isn’t as bright as we would imagine it to be.

it reminds us of the the atrocities of the past, the tragedies of the now, and uncertainty of the future.

and after all, negativity makes us pay attention.

narratives of what went wrong attract eyeballs, due to the tendency of negativity bias.

we want to know what’s going on, we want to be more informed.

which is all helpful, yes.

but when that’s all you want to do, then life won’t be as pleasurable

negative inputs including the information you feed yourself, obviously lead to negative outputs. you would start to feel drained, hopeless, or even despondent as a result of hearing more about the world.

you naturally adopt the mentality that “we’re cooked.” which is something I see quite often everywhere.

and that’s not a very good mentality to have.

the fact of the matter is, we’re not as “cooked” as we may think.

life really, is all a matter of perspective. for a cup of water, you can choose to look at it half full, or choose to look at it half empty. this isn’t about cups by the way.

in this case, we need to look at the cup half full a little more.

to have a bit more positivity, and optimism in this life where calamities and tragedy is the main talk of discussion among the masses.

and most importantly, to renew your hope in a world that is normalizing it’s destruction.

deep in the night as of now and it’s 1:28 AM, asphalt and ablution playing on the speakers from the Halo 3: ODST soundtrack, the calming sense of jazz that signals a sense of hope and safety for what’s yet to come.

no notes this time, nothing too technical, no advanced concepts involved. just my raw authentic thoughts upfront for you, my friend.

so as always, do approach all of this with an open mind.

let’s get into it.

“the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - Saint Augustine

you can look at this negatively, or positively. but let’s focus on the positives, the cup half full here.

we live in one of the most abundant generations ever.

before the invention of the Internet and Digital age, it was extremely costly, time consuming, and extremely scarce to study material.

literacy rates were low, the majority of people back then couldn’t read or write to even understand material.

but now? you are one google search away from going down a rabbit hole that can expand the depths of your mind.

quite literally any resource is available to you.

you have YouTube to self educate yourself, depending on how you use it there’s AI to help expand your knowledge, you have free open-source courses from top universities that are all free of charge.

you have free reign over how you want to use the digital world but if I were you, I would learn as much as possible in this finite life and let your curiosity take you to new heights.

you can dive into the minds of conquerors easily, you can adopt philosophical frameworks in your own thinking from thousands of years

besides learning and growing from the digital world, you can also learn and grow from the real world.

really think about it.

transportation & traveling has never been more abundant, it’s been easier than ever to travel uncharted territory in this world.

you can take a road trip in your country, book a flight abroad, or at the bare minimum, go on a hike near a local mountain.

personally, the purpose of going outside is not for you to see the world only, but a means to learn about yourself in the process.

there’s a sudden realization I’ve had in supplement:

if walking is a reset of the mind, then traveling is a complete rebirth, a full transformation of the self & soul.

you know the feeling after a walk, you feel great and detoxed when you get some fresh air. but traveling is another level.

you understand the cultures of other people, you get out of your comfort zone by traveling to places you aren’t familiar with, and you understand the world a little more.

when you return back home? it’s like you’re a whole different person.

so if there’s one thing I want you to take away from this section, it would be this:

it has never been easier to grow as a person.

use abundance and your own innate curiosity to your advantage. use it to learn, expand your knowledge base, and explore uncharted territory in the digital and real world.

the choice will always be yours.

“the combinatorics of human DNA and experience are staggering. You will never meet any two humans who are substitutable for each other.” - Naval Ravikant

here’s the beauty of the human experience as we know it.

most overlook this, but we are all uniquely 1 of 1. no one is exactly the same replicate as another person.

the reasons for this resides in our DNA, our own genetic code itself.

studies show that human DNA has about 3.2 billion base pairs, and the number of genetic combinations that are passed from parent to offspring exceed over seventy trillion.

yes. seventy trillion.

even identical twins have their respective differences.

so, what does this mean for us? being your own authentic self and who you already are now is a special gift no one can rob you of, and something money can’t buy.

you can’t buy authenticity. you can’t shortcut your way to replicate someone’s whimsical nature.

living on your own terms with your own set of beliefs, moral foundations, and personality is a blessing you need to realize in this gift of life.

this reminds me of two distinct quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson that fully connects with this section:

“to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

and:

“do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

there is importance in self-reliance and choosing your own path in life rather than going down a path that is chosen for you.

because in reality, society itself normalizes conforming to average. it normalizes the conventional path: the 9-5 job, the save money for retirement at sixty-five path, the work for forty years path.

don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with this path itself, if that makes you content, feel free to pursue it as no one is stopping you.

but in reality, some if not most of us look at this path with disgust, me included.

we don’t want to be like everyone else, and most importantly, we don’t want to be average. this is why being your authentic self and standing out is something special we can’t overlook.

it is also said that human intuition itself cannot be fully replicated.

other people can’t mimic your gut feeling, even AI or computers can’t mimic something only you understand.

so, what does this all mean?

pursue that path where no one dares to go. pushing through uncertainty brings two best scenarios. it either changes everything, or helps you learn.

don’t be afraid to stand out and chase that dreams even though others say otherwise.

the world rewards conformity, but taking that reward means being forgotten. so make that mark, carve out your own path, and make that dream a reality while everyone else is sleeping.

when I say objectively, I mean factually.

there are genuinely no limits to your imagination or abilities. human thinking is bound to nothing, and when you truly think about it, we’ve came so far as a civilization since the stone age.

from the invention of agriculture we learned how to feed ourselves and survive as a species.

the invention of the wheel we revolutionized transportation and trade which laid the foundations of todays world multiple millennia ago.

from the development of the printing press we helped facilitate the spread of knowledge and literacy globally.

the creation of the light bulb brought us to power entire cities and laid the foundations of the internet today.

from the development of the airplane humanity has accomplished soaring in the sky and taking us places cars can’t go alone.

the milestone of creating the rocket allows us to explore the depths of space and reach the stars.

i could go on and on, but you would understand a pattern throughout history that we just get better and better.

the baseline for technology is advancing further.

and the depths of human knowledge get even deeper as time passes.

somehow, we’re forgetting about how great we are at creating and curating. we quite literally are living in one of the most abundant, innovation-rich generations of all time.

and yes, subjectively we all have different perspectives and personal philosophies on how we view the world.

you can view the world in a nihilist lens the same way you can view the world in an optimist lens.

but objectively, no one can stop you from doing what you want to do, something you’re deeply passionate in, or a dream you want to make reality.

you are the author of your destiny after all.

you flip through each day like a page, each year is a chapter in your own life, and your life is a book where the story you want to create is entirely up to you.

now, are you going to paint one of the most beautiful stories ever?

or are you going to spend your life writing a story of another person deciding your journey for you?

ponder on this question.

“until death, all defeats are purely psychological.” - Marcus Aurelius

think back to a time in your life where you were really going through it.

you were struggling, maybe you’ve hit rock bottom, and that your back was against the wall against odds that rendered you hopeless.

yet here you are reading this, .

you survived those moments. you were tested and prevailed because if there is one truth I can give you:

you survive 100% of all your worst days.

we all have a built-in trait of resilience, strength, and courage. each and every one of us whether you believe that or not.

looking back at all your struggles and adversities from before, you always prevailed and moved forward anyway, that’s something to be proud of.

in addition, there’s a saying from a Japanese Proverb that goes:

“fall seven times, stand up eight.”

chances are you’ve seen this somewhere, and it’s never been more true.

truly believe that you are destined for more, as a result of being tested there’s a testimony. the same testimony that you are able to withstand any and every trial & tribulation in front of you.

because if we’re being honest, all of us figure things out one way or another.

so keep moving forward, greatness is closer than it seems.

all that’s promised in life is death.

it’s guaranteed. we cannot run away from the fact that there is an ending to the story you are writing, the world you are creating.

it’s an uncomfortable truth, but a truth that should set a fire within you to act to create and become a better version of yourself.

so if there’s anything in this life that I would leave behind in this life, it wouldn’t be materialistic things, it wouldn’t be vanity, or would it be

this may sound cliché, but do hear me out on this if no one else has told you yet.

, please believe in yourself.

no matter what anyone says or what the world may think.

life is too short to subscribe to the opinions of other people trying to drag us down to their standards.

do not doubt yourself in your own capabilities nor

even if you feel the fear of posting something, of standing out, or disappointing others, move forward anyway.

so have a bit of confidence in yourself.

and instead of believing what will go wrong, believe what will go right. ask yourself what would happen if things just started working out?

life is all perspective after all, and you can choose which lens you can see through life.

choose optimism and a radical sense of self-belief every time.

the colors of life will start to become more vibrant, mundane moments will start to become more enjoyable, you won’t be in a constant survival mode state unlike those who are digging themselves into hopelessness.

you are the exception, and you are not that.

so once again, believe in yourself today.

you’re destined for more.

the current state of the world, thanks to social media and polarizing news constantly being fed to us, is normalizing a doom & gloom perspective.

an unhealthy perspective for that matter.

yes we should acknowledge what’s going on in the world: war, famine, disease, tragedies, calamities.

but if that’s all we consume, and we let external events dictate our internal mood, we can’t reap all the gifts of life that we were destined for.

we can’t be as happy if we acknowledge the cup half empty.

that’s just the truth.

so to refresh your mind, let’s go over everything we discussed:

use abundance to your advantage to deepen your knowledge base and grow as a person.

acknowledge that you are uniquely 1 of 1, no one can replicate you exactly. embrace your uniqueness and don’t be afraid of standing out in a world that normalizes conformity.

objectively, there are no limits to your imagination or capabilities. if our perspective of life is subjective, then choose optimism every single time.

you’ve survived each and every one of your worst days. the struggles of the past look like nothing today because they’ve molded your character into the person you are today. that means you have strength, courage, and resilience.

and if there’s any lasting advice I can give to anyone:

believe in yourself today.

i hope this sparked even a tiny bit of hope in you as a bare minimum, because in reality, we’re not as “cooked” as it may seem.

we never were to begin with.

so what are you waiting for?

chase that dream.

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