Youngblood : Pessimistic but happy
Skilty Labastilla
Inquirer News Service
I'M NOT really a big fan of philosophical discussions. In college, whenever classmates or friends would start to argue over some philosophical ideas, I automatically tune off. I'd rather count the hair on the back of my hand than involve myself in debates that generally go along these lines:
Friend 1: What do you call that thing that you're sitting on?
Friend 2: Uhh, a chair?
Friend 1: Are you sure that it's a chair and not just some idea of a chair? If I tell you that you're just sitting on a word, would I be wrong? What if I tell you that without words, you're just sitting on air? It's all semantics, man.
Friend 2: The problem with postmodernists like you is that you turn everything on its head. You're, like, the philosophical version of the League of Filipino Students: you go against everything the system does. I'm sitting on a chair, period. I don't have to lose sleep over whether the chair I'm sitting on is really an elephant. I have other things to worry about, thank you.
Friend 1: You don't understand, man. I'm not even being a postmodernist here. It's closer to existentialism, actually. Man is the pilot of his life. He doesn't need a system to live his own life. He defines things around him and manipulates these things to achieve his goals.
Friend 2: Whatever, man.
Well, the last line is not what Friend 2 would normally say. That's what I would've said had I taken part in the conversation. And usually, the argument would go on and on and on.
That's why it's funny that I would want to share the philosophy I subscribe to these days. But then I want more people to feel happy amid the present difficulties. The gist of my philosophy is: Expect the worst. To illustrate the point, I will cite some examples:
You wake up in the morning, expecting a splitting headache. When you realize you really don't have one, you become happy.
You go out of the house, expecting a heavy downpour. But then the sun is shining brightly and it puts a smile on your face.
You ride a jeep, anticipating heavy traffic. It turns out that the jeepney driver is a Michael Schumacher wannabe and you arrive at your destination in no time. You feel so blessed.
You expect higher prices of commodities but still get your money's worth after shopping. You're on Cloud Nine.
You court a girl and expect to be turned down. When she finally turns you down, it doesn't sting as much.
You don't expect to finish your thesis on time. Months after the deadline, you still don't fret too much about it.
You elect a president and expect him/her to be corrupt. When corruption is exposed, you don't go to the Edsa highway anymore because you had expected it to happen, in the first place.
I'm sure you get my drift by now. By expecting the worst of everything, you prepare yourself to be disappointed. When something bad happens, you don't feel so awful because you anticipated it. When something good happens, it cheers you up because you expected something bad.
If more people would only think this way, then more people we meet on the street would be wearing smiles and whistling lively tunes.
Tom Cruise has attracted more people to Scientology. I hope to attract more people to Skiltology. If you think what I'm saying is nonsense, you can still tell your friends about it. Maybe they'd be more willing to try it.
But of course, I am not expecting that they would.
Skilty Labastilla, 25, is taking up MS Social Development at the Ateneo de Manila University.
