Now, I could've read the quote wrong, and maybe you'll read it another way, but hey, it's all about interpretation. It doesn't matter what I see in it. Well, it does, but not to you. Anyways, some other quotes, some songs, and some situations later, it got me thinking. The result is the long rambling conversation I'm about to have with myself.
Alot of people praise the meek, the patient, the ones who accept their life. Hell, I wish I was more patient then I am, and was more accepting. But I do always want more. Not in the sense of material goods, though hey, it's not going to be turned down. I'm no saint. But in the sense of more out of life. I want it ALL. I want to experience this, and that. Well, again, not entirely. I do draw my limits. I don't see the point of drinking/smoking/doing drugs to experience life. I gotz me some better ways to release endorphins, thanks. But what does being meek, and patient GET you?
Do you get more friends, because you're nicer to people? Maybe you shouldn't be nice to people. Maybe people need to be kicked in the ass sometimes. But Ryan, being meek and patient don't mean you don't know when not to be. Well, I think meek does. Meek, to me is letting things pass you by, because you don't want to fight it. I can cite so many examples to why that is a bad idea, that instead, I'll cite none. And patience. Sure, I understand being patient with people, and all that. That's necessary. It's courtesy. But I'm talking about being patient with your life. Accepting it for what it is. "Well, I know life sucks. I'm just being realistic, that's all." No, not really. What I don't mind if when people say this "Life sucks. It's short, brutal, and seems to have absoloutely no point. But goddamnit, I'm going to make my life have a point." Not that it's ever been said to me, but I've thought it atleast.
Maybe I'm just crazy. Well, that's probably not in debate. I gave the middle finger to the last star in the sky this morning, and called it an asshole. I was pretending it was God, because that's how I roll. But I did it in a way, personally, to me meant, "You made a shitty world. And you made me part of it. So I'm going to make my little corner of it better." Not that I really believe in a God. It's the whole agnostic part of me, y'understand. But if there is one, I hope he/she is sitting up there, with their head in their hands, just incredibly frustrated with me.
So, since we've gotten this far, and I've given you my opinion on how you should live your life, what's the difference between Assertive, and Aggressive? I mean, everyone knows Aggressive is bad, right? Assertive is just standing up for yourself, and being yourself, and that's good. I don't think the line is so black and white though. One, because people will view you as aggressive, and you might view yourself as assertive. It's all about your way of looking at it. And two, maybe 5 different people see Aggressive and Assertive in different ways. None of them is wrong. Though none of them are probably right either. And three, I think you have to go beyond Assertive sometimes, in to the realms of the bad bad bad Aggressive, where all you're left with is the burning desire to do IT, whatever it is, and you couldn't care less about anyone who gets in your way, innocent bystander or not.
Maybe Assertive isn't enough sometimes. Maybe from time to time, there needs to be somebody who just says "Fuck it." and barrels right through everybody. And they do so not out of apathy, but because the end objective is more then any single person or group. So, then, is being Aggressive wrong? Do you have the willpower, and partly the apathy, to be able to throw away innocent lives like that? Let's say the End Objective is...I don't know, something really benifecial, and logical. Like a huge grant for some really good charities. And to achieve that goal, you may have to ruin a few innocent lives. It no longer seems so black and white anymore. Greater Good, which you may never live to see, and may never actually come around, VS the Innocent Bystanders, who never did anything, but are unfortunately in the way, and are here and now, not the future?
And how far do you draw the line in personal relationships. Where do you let people be, with their personal lives? Where do you stop and let them handle it? Sure, you want to have faith in them. But what if what they're going through is so hard, that they need somebody to help them. Help them, against their will. Can you stomach the abuse, the anger, the sadness of hurting those you care about, for in the end, the greater good? Can you cut off your own leg, or everyone's leg, so that we all don't die of cancer? Seems like an easy choice. It's not. Trust me. You know what you would do. You know what everyone else thinks, right away when they see it. But what if they're the ones cutting the legs off? The ones cutting off a resiting, screaming, crying little boy who just desperately wants to be left alone, because he doesn't understand that he will die? And if you manage that one, how about the other million kids you'll have to do that to? How long before you lose your mind, in to a place so deep that it can never be recovered? If I had to bet, I'd say it's after the 5th kid. Maybe.
And say you manage to say, after the 10th kid that you just cannot do this anymore, despite the fact that you are the only person who CAN do it? Will you sacrifice yourself, in a way so much beyond your body, to where you are sacrificing your mind, and possibly your soul, for the physical good of others? What happens at the 25th kid, when your body is just shaking so bad, and you're in such psychological stress that you cannot even speak anymore? And you look up at the line, where everybody is waiting for their kids turn, everybody crying, even though they know it's necessary, as they wait for you to cut their kid's leg off, so that they don't die. And the line goes on forever.
All I'm asking you is this. How long can you go before the difference between assertive and aggressive no longer means anything to you? How long can you hold back, in the name of Patience?
Heh. Maybe all you're doing by being patient is delaying the inevitable, and making it worse too. Making the inevitable explosion on somebody much worse then it has to be. And maybe all I'm doing is being an asshole, by being aggressive/assertive/whate
"To be, or not to be,--that is the question:--
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
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