The conundrum of being Good.

The conundrum of being good. 

Being good is probably the most important thing,  taught to everyone at every point in life. 

• Be good to others! 
• Be a good student!
• Be a good husband/wife!
• Be a good father / mom!

Unless of course , you either want to be a psychopath or already are one.  (No one tells their grandpa/ma to be good , they don’t have to 🙂 )

This is not about the ones who takes pride in being a monster both internally and externally . This is for those who think about crossing the line or walking the line of good v bad. 

Why does one have to be good ? Is it simply because one will reap rewards later in their life? What exactly does being on the good side , or taking the right path even mean? 

If you ask me, it’s all about doing the right thing without putting ourselves in the front and center . Be it the mindfulness of others , or sharing what we have with others , saying thanks and using kind words. 

It’s very hard to quantify the list of actions. Maybe it’s very easy to explain the other side, the dark side of the bad side!  don’t be a bully, don’t steal, don’t beat others , don’t murder, don’t do drugs and the list goes on! . I firmly believe the list on the other side is shorter. 

What does being good takes?

Let’s take the example of Jack, our favorite barista from “it’s the economy, stupid” . He earns a median Salary , that neither qualifies poor nor rich(salary and rich themselves are oxymorons) . Now , he wants something , but doesn’t have money to get it. The most moral answer would be to work for it. The immoral would be to cheat, steal or take the side of darkness or do whatever it takes. 

The good side offers little wisdom to get what we want. One has to put their efforts and work towards it. its as simple as that. But does it work every single time?  Can Jack work his way to gain anything and everything? The simple universal truth is that , life is not fair, you may want to believe it , but it doesn’t work that way.

Like in this example, there are things you can work and get and then there are things you can’t. There is a reason why we don’t have 8 billion billionaires. 

So being good in this case translates to keeping things in check. Aim higher but never for the peak . Be content with what you get . Jack can buy a car , but never a Rolls Royce Ghost, he can still aim for it. With his salary of ~40, 000 a year , it would take him years, if not decades Or he can take his chances of taking the dark side and either end up a billionaire or in Jail.  . The reason is not just that he is not rich. If that’s the only reason,  then the system is , pardon my brevity , fucked! 

[I am not taking into account self made billionaires and there is an absolute possibility of Jack becoming a billionaire. The chances are one in 578,508[reference] . ]. So as things stack up, the system is against him , life is not fair, he has choices that offer fantasies.

If there is a short path , why take the long road? On the point of hardships , being good is not an easy thing to do right? Right? So what does Jack get by being good and working hard towards his goal ? 

What if he lies his way through? 

We all lie. It’s an essential part of life. Whether we do this for fun , or as a job, or just to get that mouth watering candy that your parents just forbid. Lie offers quick solutions.  

One can’t escape lies. You are either in it or not in it. Once someone starts lying , there is no turning back, like building a Jenga tower only that each block is a lie. We all know it’s gonna fall at some point, yet you can also keep your tower up until a point. One simply cannot deny the clinical solutions a lie brings to any situation.  Can you name any other thing that gives you instant gratification? Why can’t we lie our ways through anything? Why is a lie considered bad? Why can’t Jack lie and work his way towards his Rolls Royce? 

 If you are atheist this probably won’t make sense to you . So where does the construct of God fit in all these? 

We all know Adam’s story. The one that involves a naked man, a naked woman , a fruit,  a serpent , a promise to keep to and all the benefits of  paradise .  All they have to do is not to eat the forbidden fruit,which of course they did! Now can Adam and Eve lie their way through this? Can they deny that they never ate the fruit or deny the existence of the fruit? Only three things stand against them, the half eaten fruit, their consciousness, and of course the construct that put them in that situation , the God. You can hide the fruit, can you hide and lie to the rest? A lie as long as it’s harmless , is fine. That one time you escaped your speeding ticket with a lie! It’s fine.. But deep down , you know you lied ! 

Adam and Eve’s story has the potential to be a disastrous ending for humanity if not for the venomous snake. What if they never took the fruit? The funny part of Adam’s  story is that God put all in. [And of course that is off topic and will be discussed in the next article]

Gods who are supposedly the epitome of goodness , created Adam, Eve, the serpent and the consciousness that is part of all those. Just like in life , we will always have the serpent teasing us with the glories of taking the dark path. At times, it’s ok to have a portion of your mind wandering the dark side, as long as it’s not the only side that your mind keeps pestering about! 

So where does this all put Jack? Well he chooses to be good despite the lack of glamor the other side brings to any situation. He is happy with his sedan, that gets his job done, even when he serves customers who come out of a shiny Rollys Royce Ghost, he serves them with the same smile , just like he would do with any others. Is he jealous? yes, is he sad, yes, but is he also happy? YES. Life choices are all about proportions. Mind is a labyrinth, that manipulates you with all the emotions. Often times, all those emotions fights with each other, and Jack lets his good side win, he doesnt brush aside the jealousy or sadness either. He just keeps them in check.

Why, because good keeps his moral consciousness intact.  It gives him a great relief for being good, doing good. He attains an inner peace that he can never get on the other side. He gives up his seat to the old lady in the train , not expecting anything in return. Not even her smile or thankfulness in the eyes . It makes him happy to know that he is doing something good. 

Even when the entire system is stacked against him , every point in life gives him the opportunity to take the wrong side, in most cases he decides not to.  Jack is gonna fight this battle every min in his life, with every decision he makes as long as the bad side exists. It is OK if he takes a few bad steps along the way as long as it doesn’t put a unfixable dent in his moral consciousness. 

Jack knows he wants to be on the right side as nothing else can beat the feeling that being good , doing good gives. Jack knows that , this is worth living for.

Quoting my favourite anime “Naruto” “Death is not the end, lack of conviction is the end.” 

It is his conviction to be good ! It’s a good thing that there are lots of Jacks in this world ! Just like you!