Two Ways

at an early age i realized that there are basically two approaches one can have towards things such as life and the world. one of understanding, listening, being willing to learn, accepting, being able to stand back too, liberating, not trying to force oneself onto things, compassion, passion, tolerating, being able to give and not only take too...
and the second way being of oppression, trying to aggressively bend things one's own way, destruction, restricting, imprisoning, taking but giving nothing, cheating and stealing.
now these are general terms and might not give the complete picture.
after all there is justified aggression too, for example when fighting injustice.
also when others only take from you and do not give, it might be correct to stop giving too.
and aswell the above might sound very hippiesque, which might be wrong too (or isn't it?).
so let me explain a bit better what i mean with these two ways.
an artist might try to create an artwork. yet he has run out of ideas, doesn't feel very creative that day.
if it doesn't work the way he wants, it might be better he stops this attempt for now, and tries it again next day, and he might create a great work of art.
or he might be a painter who is in the middle of painting a picture he finds stunningly beautiful. now in the middle of this act, he runs out of red paint and has no easy way to replace it for a reason.
now in the first way, he could try to finish the picture without using red anymore - and could create something excellent again.
way number two, on the other hand, could mean that he freaks out and doesn't get any farther with his painting, or he goes out of his way to obtain the red paint, and then ends up being so frustrated that his work doesn't amount to anything good either.

now it's very obvious that most people, and most of the world, follows the second way and not the first.
for example, problems with other nations are often tried to be solved by force or war, or restrictions, instead of finding a solution based on listening to each other, and on equality and tolerance.
similiar, when there is a problem within society, the voice of those who call for forceful action are often the loudest, again not applying tolerance, resilience and patience.

now in social interaction, a lot of people act the same. they want to be better than others, have more power, have power over others, be dominating. instead of doing the opposite.

and when dealing, coping with, and trying to understand the world and life too, people try to follow the way of aggression and destruction instead of the other.

think for yourself: which path is the better way?

do you come as an invader or do you come as a friend?

a question that remains, though, is wether it could be necessary to use the second way too, in order to get ahead.