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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Cynicism and the Future

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Cynicism is most often born in disappointment.

This is most evident when cynicism is directed at leadership or those with perceived power. When a "follower" does not receive the care or empowerment that they believe they deserve, disappointment sets in, and cynicism increases (Prezzy Bush knows what I'm talking about).

The problem with cynicism is that it leaves us with little energy to do anything new. We unknowingly ignore our disappointment and focus all of our energy on revenge. And once we become cynical in one area of our life it becomes contagious. At one point we were just cynical politically but now we are cynical towards our church, our family, and the new Pepsi logo. I have experienced this snowball effect in my own life.

I find that I am moving away from this calcified cynicism. What helped? During my time at Mars Hill I began to reflect on the disappointments in my story. I took time to consider where I had anger and what previous pain fueled my anger. Only when I sat and considered where I had been failed and how I retaliated did I discover the exhaustion that I felt from years of mindless cynicism.

In 12 days we will have a new President. A new target of our country's cynicism...and yet it feels a little different to me. It feels as if some of the cynicism has quieted as we watch a man who refuses to spend his energy in anger, but has expended his energy in the name of newness, diversity, and hope.

Those last three words may sound cliche to you...but they are words that I hang on to. Taryn and I have many decisions to make in the next five months. Decisions that will impact careers, families, relationships, and credit card balances. It is easy for me to be cynical and say that we will move to the wrong city, go into enormous debt doing so, and be unhappy in our jobs. But that's just not very helpful, is it? Instead I long to spend my energy chasing new relationships, looking for a diversity of sources to inform our decisions, and hoping for a fruitful future for my bride and I.

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Jessica said...

Have you seen Revolutionary Road?? I haven't, but your post made me think of of what I have heard about that movie. So funny, I've been thinking a lot about cynicism and the antithesis of it? Any thoughts? Hope you both are enjoying NYC!

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