Am still soaked up in the "negative and antagonist" feelings, to quote someone, from what had originally been a harmless debate on nationalistic identity last night. Those who had been contended my argument had persisted in their stand that I was highly 不安于现状, or to put in english, greatly discontented with the status quo. Thus, their advice had been for me to learn how to be contented with the current situation, and count my blessings.
A bit of disclaimer first. As a believer of Christ, it is definitely part of our requirement to rejoice daily in the blessings that He has bestowed upon us. However, note that the blessings come from God, not some government, ministry, ministers, authorities, or people in superior posititons over us. In fact these higher ups should not place themselves on a pedestal akin to God when delaing with us. They must keep in mind that since God has the ability to give them the power they enjoy now, God has the power to take it away anytime.
Ok, back to the main topic. Those who had been debating on the opposite end of me had missed the point. I had been trying unsuccessfully to communicate my 不安, or insecurity and fear of my future to them. 不安 by itself means insecurity, stemming from the one's fear of inability to provide for one's basic needs. 不安于现状 however twists the original lone noun into something akin to 不满, meaning discontent, or displeasure over the status quo.
Now to my favourite graphic use, the Venn diagram. Discontent can stem from insecurities and fears due to an inability to provide one's basic needs for survival, being legitimate as it is an innate reaction for all living creatures to sustain oneself. However, discontent can also come from 贪, or greed, where one is driven by the uncontrollable desire to aquire increasing wants beyond needs. Note that the stark difference between the two, as discontent driven by insecurity is grounded in reason, unless one has decide to foresake hope altogether. In fact, I would think that to be content while facing threats to one's survival would be considered an amazing feat, which a mere mortal like me would find it difficult to pull off.
Indeed one must learn to be content with one's blessings. However, when the situation arises such that one finds out alarmingly that the pool of blessings for our nation has been depleted at an astonishing rate, to continue on in a "even though we don't have three blessings, at least now we still have two" mindset, smacks of ignorance and lack of urgency to address the issue. I believe many like me don't claim to be the "solve-it-all", quoting from one of the others from last night, at least we bother to be aware and have the intention to want to roll up our sleeves to "make the blessings three again". Even if it ends in failure, we know we have fought the good fight. That is the basic essence of survival.
A bit of disclaimer first. As a believer of Christ, it is definitely part of our requirement to rejoice daily in the blessings that He has bestowed upon us. However, note that the blessings come from God, not some government, ministry, ministers, authorities, or people in superior posititons over us. In fact these higher ups should not place themselves on a pedestal akin to God when delaing with us. They must keep in mind that since God has the ability to give them the power they enjoy now, God has the power to take it away anytime.
Ok, back to the main topic. Those who had been debating on the opposite end of me had missed the point. I had been trying unsuccessfully to communicate my 不安, or insecurity and fear of my future to them. 不安 by itself means insecurity, stemming from the one's fear of inability to provide for one's basic needs. 不安于现状 however twists the original lone noun into something akin to 不满, meaning discontent, or displeasure over the status quo.
Now to my favourite graphic use, the Venn diagram. Discontent can stem from insecurities and fears due to an inability to provide one's basic needs for survival, being legitimate as it is an innate reaction for all living creatures to sustain oneself. However, discontent can also come from 贪, or greed, where one is driven by the uncontrollable desire to aquire increasing wants beyond needs. Note that the stark difference between the two, as discontent driven by insecurity is grounded in reason, unless one has decide to foresake hope altogether. In fact, I would think that to be content while facing threats to one's survival would be considered an amazing feat, which a mere mortal like me would find it difficult to pull off.
Indeed one must learn to be content with one's blessings. However, when the situation arises such that one finds out alarmingly that the pool of blessings for our nation has been depleted at an astonishing rate, to continue on in a "even though we don't have three blessings, at least now we still have two" mindset, smacks of ignorance and lack of urgency to address the issue. I believe many like me don't claim to be the "solve-it-all", quoting from one of the others from last night, at least we bother to be aware and have the intention to want to roll up our sleeves to "make the blessings three again". Even if it ends in failure, we know we have fought the good fight. That is the basic essence of survival.
