“You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.”
Though I have lived only for a short time, the importance of this law of power is definitely one that cannot be underestimated and should be carefully considered when speculating about what you should do in a delicate situation where someone is going to be hurt, maimed, or directly cut off in some way or form. Lovers are torn apart each day, family feuds spout hatred, scorn, and misery, and friends turn to foe after betrayal, deception, and irresponsibility. Would it not be great if we had the power to raise them all up and make them see the errors of their ways, understand the patterns that keep them from replicating the actions that we (and others) want to see so ardently changed?
Of course there are people that we know that have suffered from tragic accidents or misfortunes that were beyond their control, and I am in no way condoning the abandonment of these people since in most cases they deserve all the help and support from their loved ones and friends. In an ideal world everyone would fall under this category, but instead there are the “dregs of society”, the ‘infected’ people who draw it upon themselves by their self-destructive actions, habits, and mindsets which produce that unsettling effect on others….. We try to understand these actions, habits, and mindsets, the patterns of destruction and misery that end up getting inside and changing us instead….
At this point you might be thinking to yourself: “I haven’t been changed, I am my own person and if I try and help or support my friends who are in need, I won’t be changed, I am me.” Think again, now more clearly, about who you really are, and how much of what you do, say, and think are influenced directly by another person whether or not it is a positive or negative thing. Human beings are controlled by moods, emotions, and the ways of thinking by those with whom they spend their time with. We all make mistakes at times and feel a burning regret that makes us want to reform and change, however many people fail to realize that one often wears a mask that harbors that regret, but it can just as easily be removed, discarded, and soon forgotten. What is to be gained by pretending to be sorrowful and just as easily casting it aside? Most people like this try their hardest to present themselves as victims, carefully twisting their stories, actions, and habits to hide the fact that they are actually self-inflicted.
There is definitely a grower cancer in this world, not just within our bodies, but also in our minds and the way we treat each other when it comes to the bare basics: Decency, respect, and tolerance. There are those around us, that no matter how foolish their actions, or how sick, perverted, and deluded they become, we can never bare to leave because they are too close to our minds and permanently rooted to the pit of our souls. Just remember that carrying the weight of the sins of others is a tremendous burden on oneself, and can result in early death due to the unbearable strain and fallacy of your efforts.
“How can you protect yourself against such insidious virtues? The answer lies in judging
people on the effects they have on the world and no on the reasons they give for their
problems. Infectors can be recognized by the misfortune they draw on themselves, their
turbulent past, their long line of broken relationships, their unstable careers, and the very
force of their character, which sweeps you up and makes you lose reason. Be forewarned by these signs of an infector; learn to see the discontent in their eye. Most important of all, do not take pity. Do not enmesh yourself in trying to help. The infector will remain unchanged, but you will be unhinged”
I strongly believe that there is a possibility in everyone to stimulate the changes within themselves to lead happy lives, but only a small percentage of those people have the strength, grit, tenacity, and determination to see things through even if all their attempts lead to a bitter end. Try to meet genuinely cheerful and happy people with depth and intelligence, and they will bring you towards a prosperous future filled with unlimited possibilities.
“Authority: Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them. Misfortune is usually the crime of folly, and among those who suffer from it there is no malady more contagious; Never open your door to the least of misfortunes, for, if you do, many others will follow in its train… Do not die of another’s misery.”
