Can You Be Good? | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post

Can You Be Good?

Will Humans Ever Find A Way To Reconcile Our Darkest Nature With Our Brightest Aspirations?

165
Can You Be Good?
pexels

In recent times I've found it incredibly hard to align what I can express to myself in language with what I can commit to in action. More specifically, to be able to ensure continuity between my beliefs and my actions. At times I think that there is no hope, and I wrap myself in a despondent silo, falling asleep lonely and waking up absent. Other times find me less fragile and I have hope in values again, that is until I smash myself into an insignificant bug that can't live outside of its animalistic temptations.

In simple words, my dignity and character are in constant peril, as my actions prove to be consistently disappointing.

I lie, I cheat, I curse, I hate, and I know I will do it again. I'd even like to. Who wouldn't? It's a lie to say you wouldn't make life easier by some deceptive and crude mean if the opportunity presented itself to you without the chance that retribution will follow. We are animals, and animals are animals.

However, we gauge an incredible capacity for remorse, regret, and despair every time we genuinely reflect on our actions. Even a saint gazes into the pits of hell each time they admit to the nature of themselves. Within it, we are transported to the evils of history, the undeniable human deaths at human hands. Within it, we are transported to ourselves.

Yet with all our hellish features humans stupidly hope to be angels at heart. We love the idea so much that we categorize the world into angels who get everything done and devils that get in the way, and neatly place ourselves within the desirable box. It is far easier for one to do this than to admit to their true capacity.

However, regardless of whether or not one sees the actuated potential that is their actions, a potential is actuated when we act in a manner that is not infinitely interpretable because most matters (if not all) at hand are not correctly interpretable at an infinite scale.

If you kill someone at point-blank range with no justification and ulterior motive that could carry a shred of benevolence, murder in cold blood has been actuated, and so one's nature of the potential to kill too has been not actuated but reaffirmed. For since Cain and Abel, we've known man will kill man.

In fact, most things lead us only to one conclusion as to what they are. Situations are infinitely interpretable, but because only one situation is needed for infinite interpretations of it, there is a case to be made for the fact that there is only one situation. This is why fact exists, and opinion lies within a different realm of discerning what is real--what you experience, which is no less real than facts.

This is again made more confusing because we experience facts as well as our subjective reality. Ice cream is sweet--no question. This creates the human tendency to take opinion as reality, then to have their opinions disproved and say that "nobody knows the truth anyway," and run away from the stillness of providence before their eyes continually.

What isn't debatable, however, is history. Therefore, what is not debatable is the demonstrated human nature.

That being said, it is impossible to avoid admitting to one's most true capacity because a nearly infinite number of situations have been actuated. Have people tortured others (repeatedly)? Have countries gone to war (repeatedly)? Have humans harmed themselves and the environment (repeatedly)? Yes! Were those people born of malevolent hearts? Perhaps. Were they crushed by the weight of environments around them? Well, who wants to admit they can be made into a devil? Those who say they know they are good are the puppets that haven't yet been made to act out murder. Knowing this will save you from doing so.

If you're looking for a daunting internal journey, take a good day of meditation and try to put yourself in the position where you could be prepared to do some of the worst things history has seen. I guarantee looking at yourself, viewing who you are as a potential perpetrator of historical horrors will have you waking up screaming. Remember, those people you are taught to fear grew up scared of monsters and demons as well.

Remember, it is only by chance you were not born at the time the Nazi's, the Maoists, the Soviet's were, and that you were not one of them. If they could reflect on their lives objectively, do you think they'd choose to be who history remembers them as?

The only thing you'll find to admit to yourself is that you are a reaction to your environment and that the worse it gets, the worse you get as well. You think Nazi's popped up out of nowhere? Try rabid inflation and unimaginable poverty for fifteen years, with all of Europe blaming you for it's loss, and continual cultural destruction, it is out of such conditions that radical revolutions have consistently sprung.

So, we know that we as humans can do the worst. We've seen history bear our evil fruit, and we can't help but eat it and realize that we are simply devils.

Our honest, unending gluttonous meal of loathing does permit us to see a light above, however, as we recognize the paradox of capabilities within living.

I can kill, and if I were put in the situation that people who kill are put in, it seems the odds don't favor my wishes. Yet, I hope not to kill, I hope those I love and those I don't are not killed. What am I to do, if the thing I'm terrified of most, lies within me?

It is in such honest despair that reading Genesis soothed me once more. (I do not mean to say this and inadvertently credit Christianity with my reassurance in life, but I do admit that having metaphysical representations suits my desire for something spiritual, something eternal, something unknown yet touched, not understandable yet before us. Although, the necessity for the metaphysics to accompany the morality is debatable--in my eyes it depends on the personality of the individual. The morality, if it can remain--and it seems it can't--won't die. But remember, people think differently from what is. It may be your opinion that you are moral, if you in truth are not. You may even know you aren't moral, and act immorally anyway. So perhaps metaphysics comes into some use.

The puppets have woken up asleep, and they string themselves to the hands they choose.)

When Jacob wrestles with a man throughout the night, who--unbeknownst to him--is God in an angel, he eventually wears him out when the sun rises. He demands that the man bless him after (God) the man asks he let go. God asks of his name and he says "Jacob." God renames him "Israel"--meaning the one who wrestles with God. Specifically, God rewards him for struggling "with God and with humans," which he has overcome. God then says "Why do you ask my name?"--before blessing him.

What I have taken from this story is that belief in good is not still. We have to contend with the nature of things to overcome their difficulties--(our insufficiencies)--and come away peacefully. For knowing oneself is a wrestle, as is living in the world, as is believing goodness can come about by your own will. For, belief is not enough, onlyaction actuates.

Yet, our actions fail us!

This is where the wrestle comes into play. For if your actions fail you, are you to let life pin you down? If you fail a class, are you to drop out? If you get booed offstage, is that the end of your show? If you give up, you will lose.

If you are to realize that the Nazi's and Soviet's and Maoists had a biological composition 99.9% identical to yours, how are you to feel?

Murder has come by human hands, yet we try not to murder every single day. We lose the battle whenever one of us fails, and we mourn the kids that lose their innocence as along with the adolescent who also loses their life. But we can't give up. If we give up, we lose.

If you don't, though, you might not win. People struggle with being a good person, fail continuously, and the end of their life comes abruptly and with failure. But you might as well live. And there's real promise in living, who doesn't enjoy a good wrestle? There might not be a point of rest, no departure from the match, but when death comes upon us, and we are still asking for answers in life's name, we'll know there will have been a life lived that is in the name of the good.

The good--what we aim at--is where we fail, the bad is where we give up. So keep the aim! One fallen attempt is not enough to tear you away from your goal, I assure you and ask that the nihilists see for themselves.

We may never reconcile the fact that we say things like "I shouldn't lie," and lie anyway.

But we can always wrestle.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

179102
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

6278
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

451826
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

22927
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments