Optimism is the Most Powerful Rebellion

Politics, ideology and religion have been weaponised.

I’m not allowed to be left-wing without adhering to a confusing list of seemingly random criteria.

I can’t be right-wing without wanting to arm everyone with military-grade weapons and be accused of being racist.

I can’t listen to certain music without being tainted by the artist's beliefs.

Or watch certain films without being accused of being ‘woke’ or whatever the opposite of that is.

So, I’ll be optimistic. Also philosophical.

Philosophical means that I know I’m unimportant and nobody cares what I think. I love that.

I get 80-ish years. The universe has been around for 13 billion years, and Earth for 4.5 billion.

I’m so insignificant it’s laughable. That’s awesome. It’s like a superpower — I can try anything, be anyone, and there are no ‘real’ implications.

Except death, but that’s probs happening anyway.

I can care about what I want, and perhaps more importantly, I can not care about what I want.

Presidential election? I couldn’t care less.

Is that singer a dick? I still like the song.

Does the actor’s rant taint the movie? I won’t watch the rant, but I’ll enjoy the movie.

Pride in, defence of, and creating an identity around the race, country, religion or anything else outside of myself as an individual is destructive. Possibly externally but definitely internally. Trust me. I’ve tried all of them (don’t ask).

When it feels like everyone is on the attack, angry about things not being the way they should be (whatever that is) and are seemingly searching for the thing that will help everything make sense and form the basis of their identity from now on, I’m just going to be optimistic.

It doesn’t come naturally to me, but optimism is much more logical than any other way of thinking. It makes me feel happy, and it seems to make other people happy, too.

Optimism is looking for the positive but not forcing it, grasping at it, or making any effort at all. Just allowing the good to be there, if it is.

It’s listening to someone you don’t like and seeing their point.

It’s enjoying the rainy, cold day.

It’s having a debate with someone without getting personal or aggressive.

It’s trying new things. Smelling new things. Climbing new things.

It’s smiling for no reason when you’re by yourself, maybe because you’re by yourself.

It’s thinking, ‘Does this impact me?’ before getting enraged.

It’s realising you won’t be here in 80 years, so what’s the point in doing anything else?

For me, it’s gardening. Running. Reading. Hanging with my loved ones. Writing. Riding my motorbike. Travelling. These are the threads that mean ‘joy’ for me.

Do whatever makes you happy and believe in whatever makes you happy—as long as it doesn’t hurt other people. Physically, I mean, because trying to avoid angering those seeking anger is a fool's errand.

I rebel against the woke and their opposite, the ‘I say what I want crowd’ because they’re both miserable.

I choose to rebel.

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