How I Deal With Unflinching Idealism

professional goals at minimum are supposed to get you by and spoil you maybe from time to time - your passion with `P` for something that draws out your inner-potential is the fuel to drive you the place you wanna be or places maybe.... it could as well be your dayjob itself.... atleast thats how i see it... err.. relationships matter too and good company and good books along the way.... yeah.

I liked this write-up. Sweet and original.

[With professional goals met, what keeps one moving forward?]

Enjoying Life :)

The most effective way to deal with unflinching idealism is to take a cold shower as soon as you feel that idealism is unflinching. If that doesn’t work, then try some hands on training to make the bald guy puke.

And Faraz Sahib, when you reach middle age, your car going 0-60 in 5.4 seconds will be the least of your concerns; your biggest problem will be to start it. And when it starts, you will be so exited that instead of putting it in the garage, you might ram it into the wall.

Re: # 7

Hehe

Re: # 10
yeah, that was kinda funny!

Faraz Dude,

You suffer from low self esteem. This means you will do great things in life. Good article.

Talking about Chowk ... this site has been around for 8+ years. Good, bad, ugly, ... it does reflect the contemporary desi, along with his warts, pimples, sores, ...

If something has lasted 8+ years and changed mostly for the better, the likelihood of the world adapting to it increases manifold.

If you are a normal, wanting to get better, desi - Chowk is one of the better places to be found.

Re: # 6
thanks for the encouragement, will be sure to read the book.

Any post-pubescent mind should be able to accommodate abundant supplies of sunlit optimism along with healthy doses of bitterness and cynicism.

Separately, bitterness and cynicism are highly underrated. As is the claptrap of pure optimism.

It`s encouraging to see that despite the best efforts of its good-hearted staff, Chowk is a real place.

#2 by Saminasha.............
I second Saminasha`s unflinching idealism. Bravo, Samina.
Yes, Honesty, integrity, standing up agianst abuse, solidarity, self identity, exchange of true ideas with out getting down to low lying ways to humiliate others, getting positive influence from eachother, cultural exchanges with open hearts and minds and beautiful souls, acceptance of all with equal understanding, courage and strength, which will ultimately lead us all towards better world for human beings, which will be more livable.......

In the 1950s, C. Wright Mills wrote this:

``The uneasiness, the malaise of our time, is due to this root fact: in our politics and our economy, in family life and religion- in practically every sphere of our existence- the certainties of the past have disintegrated or been destroyed and, at the same time no new sanctions or justifications for the new routines we live in, and must live in (out of necessity) have taken hold. So there is no acceptance and there is no rejection, no sweeping hope and no sweeping rebellion. There is no plan of life.

Among white-collar people this malaise is deep-rooted; for the absence of any order of belief has left them morally defenseless as individuals and politically impotent as a group. Newly created in a harsh time of creation, white collar man (middle class man) has no culture to lean upon except the contents of a mass society that has shaped him and seeks to manipulate him to its alien ends.

For security`s sake, he must strain to attach himself somewhere, but no community or organization seems to be his. This isolated position makes him excellent material for synthetic molding at the hands of popular culture (via the media)...

As a metropolitan dweller, he is especially open to the focused onslaught of all the manufactured loyalties and distractions that are contrived and urgently pressed upon those who live in worlds they never made....`` .

C. Wright Mills, White Collar: The American Middle Classes, 1951: 16

I see unflinching idealism as part of belief system that values ethical behavior. Here are some of the qualities of such:

1. honesty: even when one is not served or benefits from it
2. committment: even when one is not paid for it
3. integrity: the ability to stand behind what is fair and just and not come up with self serving rationales that ensures one`s popularity; the willpower required not to be manipulative and call it an innate gender behaviorism
4. courage: the ability to stand by the unpopular stand, the ability not to kowtow or flirt with those who would wish you would ``just lighten up``
5. backbone: the ability to admit when you are wrong and not just movie play at being ``alone``
6. accountability: the understanding that one`s behavior or decisions when working for a public forum means that one serves that public-even when the concerns of that public are inconvenient
7. transparency: glass houses
8. strength: the committment to put an end to abusive behaviors without reverting to the rationale that its just common behavior, and we should all grow up and deal with it.

Unflinching idealism means one does not flinch when abuse is hurled one`s way, or cower, or make excuses for the less than ideal behavior of others.

Faraz, thank you for sharing this with us. Let me try and answer some of the questions here. In our heirarchy of needs, fulfilling one need usually means dissatisfaction. As a somewhat sentient animal, we need bigger challenges--however if our basic needs are not fulfilled, we regress to the first need. This is of course the famous Maslow`s theory of motivation--that withdrawal of a basic need like heated pool or car will reduce the motivation to pursue less tangible goals. (Ashoka probably was like that). Having said that, Maslow himself recognized that there are individuals whose level as it were of basic needs doesn`t fall in the typical pattern and an inner drive motivates them to pursue their deepest passion regardless of the basic needs being fulfilled. e.g., Budha, Terry Fox. There are other theories, that a certain level of material comfort is necessary for a change agent to work and produce. What that level is, differs from person to person and society to society. These are all generalizations of course. Each of us has to discover what works and what doesn`t. What feels empowering is empowering. If it is money, then so. If it is information, we pursue that. So the motivation to spend hours writing vs. the motivation to spend hours working at a high paying job to then buy a high-end car are to fulfill basically a similar need-- the need to feel empowered. You said another thing that was so true. That our degree of attachment is directly related to the level of work we put into something. Your things are symbols of your hardwork and not just things. It was easy for Budha to walk out of his palace since he had not earned those things. This is one of the key reasons that the market economy works. People receive tangible benefits that enhance their self-esteem. Anyway, I digress and it is a fascinating subject, why we prioritize certain needs over others. Because the price we receive for work is an immediate, tangible reward that directly translates into an easier lifestyle or do we price ourselves because we really badly want a bigger house, bigger car.

Re: # 1
Thanks for your insight, you`re right of course, a luxury once experienced tends to become somewhat of a necessity. Whatever we regard as basic needs do have to be in place for most of us before we can take on bigger challenges.
Or not.
It’s so easy to remain stuck in the delusion that more, better, bigger, faster, equals happiness.