Discussion: [Article] Is Gratitude Unmanly?
From the forum: Sam's Essays
This thread was started by: yourfriendrick.
Discussion start time: 2011-01-20 10:07:17.
From the forum: Sam's Essays
This thread was started by: yourfriendrick.
Discussion start time: 2011-01-20 10:07:17.
quote:
'<b>
Whether or not we can agree that true gratitude is manly, you can’t disagree with one thing: there’s no situation whatsoever where complaining is manly. At the barest and most basic level, gratitude is the absence of complaint. Between thankfulness and complaint there is nothing but apathy.
</b>'
I think that analysis misses the fact that one can complain to party A while simultaneously being grateful to party B.
E.g.: Suppose Sam Adams decides that the redcoats are infringing his God-given liberties. Sam Adams prays about this, eventually achieving a nearly beatific level of gratitude to God. In this elevated mood, Sam Adams walks into the street, shoves his flintlock pistol in the face of the nearest redcoat, and screams, "I have a complaint about the conduct of the government!"
Sam Adams is indeed ungrateful to the redcoat. Sam Adams is, however, grateful to God, for various blessings such as flintlock pistols.
'<b>
Whether or not we can agree that true gratitude is manly, you can’t disagree with one thing: there’s no situation whatsoever where complaining is manly. At the barest and most basic level, gratitude is the absence of complaint. Between thankfulness and complaint there is nothing but apathy.
</b>'
I think that analysis misses the fact that one can complain to party A while simultaneously being grateful to party B.
E.g.: Suppose Sam Adams decides that the redcoats are infringing his God-given liberties. Sam Adams prays about this, eventually achieving a nearly beatific level of gratitude to God. In this elevated mood, Sam Adams walks into the street, shoves his flintlock pistol in the face of the nearest redcoat, and screams, "I have a complaint about the conduct of the government!"
Sam Adams is indeed ungrateful to the redcoat. Sam Adams is, however, grateful to God, for various blessings such as flintlock pistols.
Haha, I like that. Of course, in that case, that's not a "complaint". That's an action movie soundbite. ;)
Actually, I think Mel Gibson already covered that movie, except he used a fictional composite of several historical persons.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/
I think doing nothing physical while mentally psyching up counts as productive action. I feel that one can be hopeful and attentive to opportunities, even though other folks say that you should be doing something immediately to fix the problem.
I like the Daoist approach of "wu wei." You accomplish a lot, but somehow you never exert effort.
Complaining to other people, of course, might tend to lower your vibration and cause you to ignore opportunities.