The Dichotomy Within

There is a fine line between complacency and apathy. When one is unaware, many things happen. Sometimes it is too late to change these things. Pretending you don't care can actually lead you to not care. Or it can make those around you think you don't care; to which they act accordingly. By the time you confess that you did care, the damage may be done.

You can always think of happier seeming days (I say seeming, for there are always problems in life, which in retrospect we either gloss over or over magnify, depending on which distortion befits our mood). Days when things were easier (were they actually easier, or were you just unaware of the troubles surrounding you?) are almost always more accessible in our memories than when times were harder. How can you cultivate self respect, or self pity for that matter, when you recall how you overcame an even more difficult time in the past?

There is always someone dumber, smarter, stronger, weaker, richer, poorer, for the majority of people. Depending on the situation we can be the life of the party or the nerd on the sidelines. If we continuously seek out situations that put us in one of these roles, are we seeking validation of how we want to be viewed? Or are we merely fulfilling who we truly are? Or does our persona change from day to day?

I feel a dichotomy exists within all of us in almost all situations (just look at my reluctance to use more solid words than almost, some, sometimes, etc.) Hitler was a passionate artist, a monogamist; he was also a cruel, prejudiced dictator responsible for atrocities. He was not one without the other. He was both.

We are not black and white. There is no objective truth that fits all of our needs. No one size justice for all. Everything depends on the circumstances.