“Cynicism is the quickest ‘tell’ to someone who’s structured to lose.”

~Gary Vaynerchuck

 

            Ah, college. The best place to go to learn about freedom, self-responsibility, and passion. It’s a wonderful place for people who don’t know what they want to do, and even for a select few who do! However, at the same time, there seems to be a prevalent element in the majority of colleges across the country, with which I believe has a very self-destructive effect on students and future contributors to society.

            I’m talking about cynicism, of course (assuming you read the title). I have no desire to spare anyone’s feelings on my thoughts on cynicism. Cynicism is the most loser-like mentality I have ever seen in my short twenty-year lifespan. It’s a quality I initially thought we all got once we got older, and therefore I only thought it to be prevalent in the older generation. And even for the first two years in college, I thought this until my mindset shifted toward being boldly positive. Once this shift started happening, I grew significantly sensitive to cynicism. I started seeing it like a rash, and being in a stressful environment like college can create a thick cesspool of it where people soak themselves in a pool of negativity. It’s as unpleasant as it sounds.

            I’m not talking about dark humor, to which even I have a pretty dark sense of humor at times, but an overall mindset—one which feels constricting and uncomfortable to positive people around you. It’s a self-defeating mentality that promotes disinterest in life and toward others because of your lack of faith in humanity, which leads to feeling generally unhappy and certain that life is cheap and miserable. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, first, take a solid moment and ask the positive people around you what your mindset is, and secondly, perhaps consider that one person who you try to avoid like a rash because you feel miserable as they consistently complain. They are the worst of the worst. Their cynicism is so pungent that every day cynics don’t even want to be around them.

            We all have our moments of cynicism, believe me; positive people aren’t free of having negative thoughts or distrust, however, they don’t let it dictate who they are and how they act as an individual. I can argue that it’s our fault as well, but that’s not really going to help. So rather than blaming everything on us, we should understand what leads to our responsibility.

            The answer is simple to the point that it’s cliché and boring as muffin pie. Every day when we log on to social media or check out the news, there’s a million and a half headlines talking about how the world’s gonna’ end, how we’re screwed in the future, how ignorant a politician sounds, or how a policy change is going to destroy all of us. This consistent barrage of negativity feeds the cynic’s mind, desensitizes us to the positive things, and increases our attraction to negative news, thus giving the media all the more reason to pump out negative news rather than positive.

            I don’t watch the news, but at the same time I know what’s going on in the world; I’m just as updated on the news as the next person. I just don’t spend time dwelling emotionally on it.

            So how do we begin the journey of leaving the cynical mindset, once we realize that we have it? Remember that one friend you have that seems to be able to see the brighter side of things? Try spending more time with them. Ask them why they’re so positive; ask them what they think you can do to change your current mindset, and take micro steps toward doing so.

            Don’t have any friends who are positive? I doubt that, but in the worst case scenario, you’re very much welcome to network online. With social media, it’s wonderful; now you can go out and link up with the type of people you want to help you make a positive change. I have many friends in person, but the number of positive friends I have on social media is significantly larger than in person, and has contributed greatly to my shift in mindset overall.

            Cynicism sucks. I don’t need to beat myself up and lose interest in life’s extraordinary wonders, so I choose not to by surrounding myself with positive people, while listening to others complain about how bad life is. And that’s the thing! The world needs its cynics! It’s perfectly fine to be a cynical individual. What matters at the end of the day is how you want to live!

            I believe that there is more good in the world than bad, and that’s because I see it every day; I am not blind to it because of a cynical mindset. What do you choose to be?