"... and you may yet restore my faith in humanity..."

(if you can identify from where I borrowed that line, you're my new best friend)

It seems like a strange coincidence that the people around me are all going through a stage of personal turmoil. Ultimately I feel that I can place all their troubles into two categories: (1) Losing faith in humanity (2) Losing faith in oneself.

A friend of mine.... no, wait, a friend of mine told me not to..... aaaaaaaaargh, there I go again..... Okay, Ravikanth told me that I say "a friend of mine" too often in my blogs, so I've decided to use names except in cases where I feel it inappropriate. So, well, Maalika was telling me about people writing nasty comments on the doodle board on her blog, and even impersonating herself and her friends on it. I know she was depressed. It is understandable. But there are sick people in the world out there. And if you let them get you down, you're letting them win. Feeling down because a friend was not there for you when you needed him is one thing, but letting a bunch of jobless misguided indecent misanthropes affect you is unacceptable.

What are the things you derive happiness from? The company of your close friends. Perhaps reading a good book. Perhaps listening to the music you love. And to people like us - the blogging community - writing. Simply penning down one's thoughts gives an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. My point is: something that can't give you happiness shouldn't make you feel sad. If your friend hurts you, or if you fail in some task you badly wanted to achieve.... things like that can get you down. Don't let the small things bug you.

But there's more to it than that. For every person I despise, there are a hundred that I admire. For every thing I hate, there are a thousand I love. The world is full of wonderful people... people who are kind, caring, compassionate, funny and helpful. Make them your friends and share your happiness with them. It is important that you trust, for trusting is an act that can bring the rich reward of friendship. If your trust is betrayed, you may lose a little, but that pales in comparison to what you stand to gain.

Have some faith in humanity. The good people you know will always outnumber the bad several fold, because they are the ones who stay with you.

As for losing faith in oneself... that's a topic for another day...

Cheers,
Prashanth.