31 Hard-To-Swallow Pills About Life's Truths

While discussing the importance of thinking about the less uplifting aspects of life, Dr. Gary Foster told Bored Panda that it is important to do it once in a while. “Life is full of sadness and tragedy as well as joy and excitement,” he said. “The ancient Greeks—and I am sure other cultures as well—recognized this, as is expressed in Greek tragedy. Aristotle, for instance, thought that the role of tragedy (in the theater) was to arouse the emotions of pity and fear so that we could experience a catharsis or cleansing of these emotions. I think that sometimes today we read certain kinds of fiction or watch certain movies for similar reasons.”

Dr. Foster added that sometimes we simply need a good cry. “It is good, I think, to reflect, not only on the good and joyful things in life, but also the reality of suffering and sorrow.

“Of course, dwelling on these ‘negative’ realities is not healthy any more than ignoring them is,” he continued, “but psychologically speaking, I think there is something healthy about facing the unpleasant realities of life (to the degree that it is possible) and still affirming that life is good or worth living. Nietzsche and Camus both seem to endorse such an attitude.”

According to Dr. Gary Foster, contemplating the sad or tragic aspects of life can benefit a person partly for the reasons that Aristotle offered. “Sometimes we need a good cleansing or catharsis of certain emotions which seem to arise quite naturally during the everyday drama of life,” he suggested.

“But I also think there is virtue and empowerment in simply accepting the world the way it is and being okay with that. When I say accepting the world the way it is, I don't mean that we shouldn't try to change unjust societies or unjust situations in our immediate environment (with family and friends), but rather accepting the fact that people live and die, experience joy and suffering, and so on. These are things that we have no ultimate control over.”

When it comes to what tends to upset people the most, the expert admitted that it’s hard to think of things outside of the most obvious. “A sense of injustice often upsets people,” he contemplated. “Also, not being recognized or respected (that often accompanies a sense of injustice, especially among oppressed people).”

He also pointed out that at the level of everyday interpersonal interactions, people want to be listened to or understood, and if they’re not, a feeling of isolation and other negative emotions might arise. “If this is accompanied by what looks like willful ignorance, neglect, or an unwillingness to really listen or try to understand on the part of another person, this can lead to anger and resentment, of which there seems to be no shortage.”

“So, the very things that can be beneficial to reflect on—sadness, tragedy, what Camus calls ‘the unreasonable silence of the universe’, and so on—can turn quite negative at times, especially at a personal level if the person cannot find a way, through an attitude, disposition, strategy, or whatever, to put the negative into perspective,” Dr. Foster pointed out.

“Of course, some people experience situations in life that seem so negative that it is difficult to imagine how they can rise above it. Jean-Paul Sartre, at least in his early work, thought that even in such situations, one can respond with a certain ‘attitude’ which can still be positive and which they can take responsibility for. There are times when I think he may have been right, but other times when I am not so sure. Some circumstances seem almost impossible to overcome, psychologically or attitude-wise.”