2Sense: Silver Linings

As much as I'm a pessimist, I've still somehow retained the ability to find silver linings.
Let's take the youth for example, impulsive careless, reckless lives lived without thought of consequences, lack of foresight,
this is what they or we are described as.
And yes all these things have their setbacks, some of which can be eternally scaring.
Perhaps I've lived on the other side of the spectrum too long but I admire this.

They know a life without second guessing, a freedom that comes with this so called recklessness, they don't sit for hours contemplating the possible outcomes and scenarios that could result from their probable actions.
They know happiness, whether it is stolen, or momentary, or followed by harsh consequences they're familiar with the zeal of joy.
A spade is a garden tool and not an object that could potentially harm them.
They try things, which could go wrong and often they do, but so are the odds for every single thing on Earth, they either skew in your favour or to your loss
it's why we have probabilities.
Impulsive? Yes.
They are still trying.
Which essentially is all we ever do.

To draw from my own experience,
I've walked the set path, did not stray from the blueprint.
I got through high school, kept away from boys, or rather waited till the "time for boys" and relationships came.
Chose a career suited for me.
Got into and performed well at university.
Secured my future, all that was expected of me
but somehow I still ended up miserable.

This frames my argument, I'm not saying oblivion is bliss, Nor am I saying we need to blindly walk into situations, I'm saying maybe we should take a closer look at what we call oblivion, or reckless.

We live in a society that hails innocence and slanders what I would call experience. Nobody wants to date a girl that has "been around", the ones with shattered innocence. The irony of this all is its the very same people who do the "shattering".
This is another argument for another time though.
What I'm saying is, I seem to be one of the few who not only see but admire their experience, bravery, their resilience.
These girls that "go around" have had their hearts, their hopes, crushed one too many times and they pick those shards right up, move on to try again, right afterwards.
They somehow find the strength to start again, and they do so well, aware of their past  "failures"
They may not know or have experienced real love, appreciation, proper validation but what they think is,
which may be the reason for all their disappointment.

Them not knowing, is that not oblivion? Shouldn't IT be bliss?

The faultlessness which is so often hailed,
to me can also mean, that individual is a stranger to failure, the agony and lessons learnt from it.
Simply put, naive.
look it up innocence and naivety are synonymous.
Couldn't that be seen as a form of ignorance?
Oblivion?

That is bliss right? It's beautiful, admirable.

I'm not here to argue about the selectiveness of perception, it may help me prove my point but it too is an argument for another day.

Let's use a different  example.
The mothers of murderers, thieves and rapists, who every night pray for their child(ren)'s safety and deliverance.
Surely those prayers should be directed at their victims.
My point is, those mothers have faith, if not in their children than in their God.
That they're lives could be different, that their sons and daughters could change.
Some are just grateful and happy when their child is home.
Regardless of their actions.
and that is what I find most beautiful, the emotion, the purity beneath what to the normal eye can be seen as selfishness.

What sets us part from the rest of the animal species, is cognition and emotion, and how we are driven by such.
To put it simply I have no argument but rather a question.

Where is your silver lining?

| By Ndalwentle Makunga |