cynicism

Conan O'Brien, on the last night of his show, before NBC kicked him out made this quote.

"All I ask of you, especially young people...is one thing. Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism; it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen."

I have been thinking a lot about this. Why? Primarily because in many ways, i am a cynic. I don't like to label myself that way, but it is true. I am. I tend to look through cynical eyes. Not really at the world that I directly interact with, but the larger world out there. So while I am not cynical towards the people that i know, I can be very cynical towards government and media and many of those larger groups.

And on top of that, for the most part, I agree with Conan. I think that he is right. Cynicism does not lead anywhere. It only traps us in a spiral of dis-enjoyment. In the worse case, it just leads to apathy. Now while I am no where near apathetic, I do see that in myself every once in a while.

So how do I change? What steps can I take towards being less cynical? I am not sure, but I am sure that acknowledging it is a good step into the process. So we shall see where it goes.