RE: Exploring Life in the Deeper End: Wandering the Philosophical Path
I also feel that I am a bit of an idealist but the trouble I seem to have when conveying my thoughts to others is that they seem to think that being an idealist is to my detriment and also they feel like I am judging them for not being so. The truth is though that in most cases I am as deficient in my own approach to life and can at times be hypocritical in my actions versus my words but I am aware of these deficiencies and am trying to overcome them but when I try to encourage others that they should give some thought to do the same they look at me like you say, as if I am from another planet.
The world does not allow us too much time to think for ourselves these days and group think is a difficult thing to overcome. It frustrates me at times when I am unable to find the words to express my thoughts on the subject but when reflecting on the situation afterwards I often realise that I was always doomed to fail because the person I was talking to did not WANT to hear what I had to say and so COULDN'T no matter what words or tone I was able to find to express myself.
That's my experience anyway! :)
"Well, you're just too nice to people. They will take advantage of you!"
Unfortunately, it often makes people uncomfortable if you are steady and rooted in a value set that-- if it works in the world-- will illuminate that they perhaps are not really moral, ethical or conscious people. Hence, it's a better approach to try to change YOU "for your own good" than it is for them to have a long hard look at their own bag of goods.
The sense of "judgment" I often feel I encounter seems centered in the idea that while I might be "right" about what I'm suggesting... but I am "making things too complicated, and we don't have TIME for that." In a very broad sense, it's the consequence of living in a world where lots of people want "change" for a better world, but they are not willing TO change in order for that to happen.
I'm coming to the realisation slowly that to change the world is to change myself and that taking on the big fight will only be to my own destruction in terms of my own experience of life. No-one wants to feel that the choices they make every day for themselves and their children might in fact be the wrong choices so they can't allow themselves to hear what is being said and so as you say, they inevitably turn the tables and angrily at times, try persuading me that I am the one with the problem and not the world.
Most people I encounter believe it is better to ignore the issues of the world which do not have a direct affect on their own lives but fail to see the connections in everything that is. I can forget for a while the troubles of the world but I can't live my life in ignorance of the suffering and hardship that is rampant and the cause of this suffering which I believe to be the actions of men and women no different in physicality than ourselves. It angers me hwen people say I make things too complicated because all I want to do is make things simple. The way they should be and they way I feel they were meant to be.
I want the world to change but right now I need to change myself and am having difficulty. I am far too angry and it is definitely not a good thing for my own experience here.
Sorry. Bit of a mini rant there. :) Thanks @denmarkguy! Take it easy my friend!