Respect

If everyone has someone they want to impress, who never gave them attention, way back when, what's going to happen? There are certain logistics problems. For example, if you make it late in life, then many of those you want to impress are going to be dead? Part of the impetus in impressing someone is to get back at them. You want them to see your name in lights so they can drown in envy, hopefully just when their ship is about to capsize. “Don’t kick a man when he’s down” doesn’t apply here. The person who never gave you the right time of day can be on their dying bed and it’s still permitted to wave the flag of victory in their face. You’d better do it, before they aren’t there to suffer anymore. But this very problem does bring up the real issue. Who the fuck cares whether you succeed or fail since oblivion and the infinity of time and space is the great leveler? Still hope springs eternal. It’s hard to help oneself. There are always the phalanx of doubters who populate your dreams, looking at you askance or not looking at you at all. The indifference of the universe, the cosmic yawn is often the real problem. What to do about impressing the individual who simply pushed you to the margins of their consciousness or never knew you existed at all? You could win the Nobel, but it wouldn’t count since they didn’t know you in that other life, before you became a contender.

Read "What is the Antidote to or Antonym for Schadenfreude" by Francis Levy, HuffPost