Suppose something bad happens, be it due to our own mistakes or due to factors beyond our control, or due to a combination of both, as is most common. Once that event has happened, all that is in our power is how we respond. The quality of our response will determine our future and the overall nature of our responses may even determine our destiny.

Amid such reversals, we often categorize responses as healthy or unhealthy based on whether they are positive or negative. It is helpful to look at things positively, seeking opportunities in adversity, and patiently waiting to see how something good can emerge from the current difficulties. Such optimism is far better than pessimism whereby we catastrophize the situation and believe it’s the beginning of the end: we are about to inevitably spiral downward to dysfunctionality, disgrace, and destruction. Pertinently, this despairing dystopian attitude is discouraged in the Bhagavad-gita (18.35), where it’s considered a perverse determination defined by the dark mode of ignorance. 

Simultaneously,  having a positive attitude alone doesn’t necessarily make our response healthy. In fact, the positive versus negative is not the only binary through which we can process our responses — another vital binary could be casual versus serious. It’s unhealthy if in the name of being positive, we take the whole problem lightly, living in denial of its magnitude and not contemplating or preparing for the possibility of its future escalation. Taking things nonchalantly can be self-destructive; it is a sign of not optimism, but stupidism.

The opposite of foolishness is intelligence, which essentially means seeing things in their proper perspective. By applying our intelligence, we understand which reversals are serious and thereafter approach grave situations with the appropriate gravitas. The same Gita (18.30) indicates that a robust intelligence helps us discern the consequences of our actions, thereby prompting us to moderate our present actions so as to make things better — or at least not make them worse.

A nonchalant attitude makes us naively optimistic, wherein we are merely waiting for a brighter future without working for it. Worse still, nonchalance may make us destructively optimistic, wherein our very positivity propels us toward the negativity of self-destruction. In contrast, when we take a situation seriously, we engage in sober soul-searching, evaluate what we did wrong and learn how we can prevent similar mistakes in the future. Thus, we grow toward developing both stronger character and greater competence. 

Summary:

When things go wrong, see our responses not just through the binary of positive versus negative but also through the binary of casual versus serious; to grow through reversals, take things not just positively but also seriously. 

Think it over:

  • In facing reversals, what binary do we frequently use for evaluating our responses? How is that binary helpful?
  • When can using that binary alone be harmful? 
  • How can we ensure that we grow through reversals?

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18.30: O son of Prutha, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness.

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