A chat room friend asked me if I felt that there is a "tiredness" in society nowadays, an indifference, a lack of motivation for being bothered about the goings-on in ones society.
This lead me to ponder the subject of motivation. What motivates us? What is motivation?
On a basic level; it is the reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way; the willingness to do something often supported with a level of enthusiasm.
According to some, our motivations are often extrinsically or intrinsically driven. Put another way; external rewards/validations/recognitions from outside of the self, and internal rewards in the form of personal gratification and or satisfaction within the self. Winning trophies or receiving praise from ones team members, doing charity work, volunteering, et cetera may be viewed as "extrinsically motivated" and learning a new language, how to play an instrument, run a marathon, and so on, may be viewed as "intrinsically motivated".
"Why do you go to the gym?" "Because I want to be healthy and feel good about my body."
"Why do you work 18 hour days?" "Because I want a promotion."
"Why do you work in a soup kitchen?" "Because I want to help others."
"Why do you want to get into politics?" "Because I want things to change'"
"Why did you become a nurse?" "Because being a nurse I get to assist and help others, and doing so, makes me feel good about me."
Perhaps much of what we do, we do for both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons. There may be a problem though if we can find no reason/motivation for doing anything and we conclude: "why bother?"
(Why wash the dishes, they're just gonna get dirty again? Why clean the place, it's just gonna get messy again? Why put any effort in, someone is gonna do it better anyway?)
Watching a documentary on binge drinking among teens, I was struck by the reply from one of the girls when asked why do you binge drink she answered: why not?
For me there is a number of health and safety reasons for why binge drinking would be better avoided, so I have to admit that the girl's answer had my mind working overtime.
Was her motivation for binge drinking the lack of a motivation for not doing so?
Or was there a subconscious motivation? Was it possible that her motivation for binging was to rebel, throw caution to the wind, push the boundaries, to numb her emotions, to do crazy stuff and put it under the rubric: "I was so drunk, I can't remember?"(So I am not responsible)
Is it possible to act/do something, anything, without there being a reason for it, be it conscious or unconscious?
When we say "Why bother?" is our motive for saying so driven by a sense of powerlessness, helplessness, a sense of feeling unable to affect the outcome rather than a lack of motivation?
Bothering about something tends to involve participation of some kind, and that may require effort, and to put effort in, one may need the motivation to do so. Catch 22?
In the view of the information available 24/7 of disasters; natural or human, of murders, accidents, crimes, poverty, starvation, diseases, etc. it may be easy to conclude that bothering is not viable, (like being a flea on the back of a rhinoceros) however, as the Dalai Lama says: Be optimistic, it feels better" perhaps one may also say: "Do something, it feels better than doing nothing".
When we bother we may not always be rewarded (extrinsically) with trophies or money, or status, but when we bother, more often than not, we are intrinsically rewarded.
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." (Francis of Assisi)
"Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”
(Jon Krakauer)
We can't outrun pain, suffering, or disappointment,
we can't hide from sadness, fear or sorrow,
all we can do is experience it
and then match it with
hope, joy, beauty,
courage
and
love.
Why bother? Because it feels better.
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