I don’t lock my car doors. I’m not scared of going into bad parts of town. I don’t think anything bad is going to happen to me. I’m a good person. I make an effort to see the best in people. Why should anyone want to hurt me?
Well, I’ve been hurt before. I’ve been called names, rejected from social settings, and ignored. So if I know that people are going to hurt me emotionally, then why am I not afraid that people will hurt me physically?
Maybe it’s because I’m young. Maybe, since I am so young, I harbor an ignorance that doesn’t allow me to believe in the true evils of this world. Maybe my youth shields me from all the murder, rape, pedophilia, gangs, and mobs that are out there. Maybe my youth and my prime physical body empower me to feel unstoppable, to feel invincible. Maybe…
Or maybe it’s my optimism. Within the past year I adopted the mantra “Always Optimistic.” Around the time that I adopted this phrase, I had found that my negative thoughts were leading to negative behavior. What I was saying to myself in my own head was making the world around me a far less beautiful place than it actually is. Now, I’m "always optimistic." I find the joy in every scenario. I find the joy in traffic. I find the joy in rainstorms. I find the joy in hard tests, late and stressful nights, busy weeks…I try to find the joy in everything. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m not scared of certain settings. Maybe that’s why I trust the world around me enough to not lock my car doors.
So what’s the difference between being naive and optimistic? Well, I lied. I do lock my car doors, but only when I am in the bad parts of town. I’m still not scared at all, however, about going into the bad parts of town. I’m not scared about walking on the streets or talking to people when I’m there. I am fully conscious of where I am and where I am going, and I take the necessary precautions that need to be taken before I am put in certain scenarios. If I locked my personality and my friendliness up when I was in a bad part of town the same way that I locked my car, then I would in no way be able to really appreciate where I was. I couldn't appreciate the difference in culture, the way people carry themselves, the rawness of city life, or the individuality expressed in the street art. All of that would still be an abstract world that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
All in all, I recommend locking your car doors, but I also recommend placing more trust in humanity. One reason why I think people feel like they absolutely have to lock their car is because every single person is so scared that every other person might be a threat to them. Instead, let’s put faith back into our neighbors. Let’s start to believe again that maybe the random man sitting on the bench across the parking lot isn’t going to try and steal my car. Let’s start putting joy back into others and seeing what they are worth and what beauty humanity holds. Stop locking yourself up. Stop locking other people's potential up too.
