Optimism in youngsters

Nitefly

This brought a lump to the throat:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-35460945

It's about Syrian refugee children being asked what they wanted to do when they grew up.  It's amazing how much optimism there is, even in kids who have lived through unimaginable horror.

Troy

I've found that those who have the least, smiles the most, in my travels around the globe.

quarky

Your standards for being happy are much lower after living through shit.

Sambostar

Yeah, it's like a trip away from the daily grind where you come back refreshed, with a new simple perspective before getting lost again in the mire, except I prefer the latter.

But that's the problem, they'll soon lose their clarity on their perspective and get lost in the dregs of the system and be having kids and council housing and benefits in no time.

mgaw

quarky said:

Your standards for being happy are much lower after living through shit.

thats true but another take on it might be a renewed sense of perspective...i suspect quite a lot of people who have been through this amount of horror and hardship will be far more aware of what really matters.....in times of strive depression rates are significantly lower than those prevailing currently in the "safe" uk.  what dont kill you makes you stronger

Chalky

People I've spoken to who have been through life changing periods or events have relatively quickly rejoined the rat race in sweating the small stuff. More @Sambostar than @mgaw. Humans are very good adapters. They may have known what its like to live through months of misery and near death, but within a year or two they are still wound up by a driver who cuts them up or spouse who forgets to pick up the shopping on the way home. Apparently that is the healthy response - moved on rather than letting the episode affect their daily thinking.

mgaw

perhaps....people are shaped by experience and that is more where i was coming from rather than the assumption they would be "trapped" by them.....