Moving beyond cynicism

When you’re young, being cynical is great fun. Everything is lame. Everyone is stupid. We are all doomed. LOL!

Enjoy it. A world without youthful skeptics would suck. 

But beware. Because it’s an incredibly short trip from cynical to bitter. And you don’t want to be that guy. Cynics are charming. Bitter people are draining. And nobody wants to work with the dude who saps their limited supply of energy.

So how do you avoid becoming a crusty old crank?

Gina Sclafani from Grey New York has some ideas. And they’re worth reading. Her piece on Fast Company’s Co.CREATE page is a brilliant antidote to creeping bitterness. 

You can read it for yourself, but the basic gist is this: open your damn mind. As Gina promises, this won’t be easy. Just reading some of her experiences had my inner-cynic rolling his eyes. You want me to try to view the world from Rick Santorum’s perspective?  Can’t I just have my retinas scraped instead? 

But if you try it, even for a few minutes, you realize it works. It’s like someone grabbed your brain, shook it up and put it back in just a tiny bit askew. 

Now don’t worry. No matter how much brain shaking you do, you’ll never kill your inner cynic. He’s a feisty bastard. But instead of running your life, he’ll just be a bit player, providing witty retorts and snappy comebacks when the situation calls for it (and the situation will inevitably call for it). 

But your open mind will be the one leading the way towards bigger and better things, leaving a trail of bitter people wondering how the hell you go so lucky.