Human beings have evolved from unicellular organisms into creatures of intelligence who are capable of making inventions and building cities. In the future, we may even evolve enough to understand and control the very fabric of our universe. However, throughout the course of our history and even in the present, the one quality of human beings that repeatedly brings us trials and failures is our myopia. We are, in the most frustratingly debilitating manner, quite short-sighted.
Regardless of how much knowledge or information we possess, we can never predict the exact outcome of any situation. On one hand, this means that humanity can afford to hope and be optimistic about the future. On the other hand, it means that we can only know the negative implications that a choice may bring while in the process of experiencing them.
On an individual level, this quality can result in utter hopelessness in the face of a bleak moment. When something awful happens to someone, it can shift their world and overwhelm them with negative emotions to the point that they are unable to see past the moment that they are experiencing. They may begin to believe that even if their situation is not permanent, the emotions that they are experiencing will never become less painful.
Imagine that your life is a giant wheel made up of many colourful spokes. Each spoke represents an important memory that you have acquired. When you gain a new experience, a new spoke is added to the wheel. If this memory makes you upset, then it is black. If the memory makes you happy or content, it is a bright colour. When the wheel begins to spin, all you would see is a blur of beautiful colours. This does not mean that as life progresses, you forget your experiences or you no longer feel the emotions that you felt when you first made the memory. It simply means that there are enough colours added to your wheel of life that it is no longer dominated by any single colour. Occasionally, the darker spokes may stand out a little more, or the brighter colours may be more apparent. However, the wheel will always maintain an equilibrium by having a heterogeneous appearance.
Our nature of being myopic tricks us into believing that life can never become better or worse. It is a trap that keeps us teetering on the edge so that even the slightest setback or obstacle affects us severely to the point of anxiety, depression or self-harm. It prevents us from seeing the changes that we can experience or the happiness that we can feel.
Writer Ernest Hemingway once said, “Night is always darker before dawn and life is the same, the hard times will pass, everything will get better and the sun will shine brighter than ever.”
Our lives are as dynamic as they are valuable. Do not make choices that will last forever as a response to situations and feelings that can change as quickly as a wheel turns.
