I've been doing a lot of searching inside myself as some of my posts have already made clear I guess. Tonight at work, I once again heard something I have heard many times before and this time I've been thinking about it and adding all the times up. I am told very often how great/nice I am. I make a strong effort to be "nice" to everyone. Not just the people close to me or that I want to get something out of. Everyone. And it does take a conscience effort so it is very nice to hear. But along with that in many instances it is followed with a descriptive on how when your nice your going to get screwed over.
Now, I believe myself to be a fairly intelligent man. But I do not deny my ignorance to many things in life. When I look back through life looking for the examples I can see many times where it shows that my being nice was taken advantage of. Where I got metaphorically screwed. I honestly don't care. I would much rather spend my life being the poor, broken down, lonely, old man who has been nice and taken advantage of his whole life than to change that about myself.
This all leads me to wonder, why? Why do we as a people allow this idea of being nice will hurt at some point be the truth? Why do we take advantage of people who are nice to us? Is it intentional or natural? I mentioned being nieve/ignorant about goings on but I truly believe that everyone is a good person. I truly mean that. Every single person I've ever known or haven't known is a good person. They've made poor decisions and had horrible things happen to them and have therefore had a different view which became harmful to others but inside of them is a genuinely good person. If only there was a key or cleaning product to remove the fear, hatred, and hurt from them, the good would shine through. Have I unintentionally "screwed" someone over that was being nice to me? I don't believe so but I have also learned that rarely do people confront others when they have an issue. They prefer to "rumor" about it to their friends/coworkers/family.
I cannot find the answers to all these questions and I will not even try, if I'm to be honest. But what an amazing difference it would make, I think, if we all put the extra effort in to not let the fear of being taken advantage of stop us from being nice. Not let the resentment of past happenings of hurt cause us to in turn cause hurt to others. It isn't easy but for some reason I think that it would be worth it for all of us if we could find the strength to do that. I know I am going to make an even stronger effort of helping when I can and doing the right thing for others more. It just makes me feel better and that is worth it to me.
James
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Heaven
Been working a bit lately and also feeling extremely tired so that's why I haven't gotten here to write anything new. However, I have a day off today (only one this week) and I came upon something I decided I wanted to write about.
I'm not one of those people who really enjoys watching the news but every time I open my browser I like to look through the headlines and when something catches my attention I check it out. Today there was a story about a young boy, 11 years old, who at the age of 4 had his appendix burst and wasn't noticed for like 5 days and when they realized there were some issues, he was taken to the hospital but his chances looked bad. Apparently, he "died" during this process because he says he was in "Heaven" sitting on Jesus' lap. The young boy saw his sister in heaven (she was never born, she was a miscarriage that Mom and Dad never told this young man about) and also his Great Grandpa (on his dads side apparently). This whole thing turned into a book, which I am thinking about getting, called "Heaven is for Real".
I have some very unorthodox beliefs but no matter what my beliefs are, this to me is an amazingly beautiful story. And it also is a somewhat familiar story to me as well. I've discussed my childhood in regards to my father situation but I never mentioned how my "oma and ota" were such a very large part of turning me into the man I am. For a time period (the amount of years I am unsure) I lived with them instead of my mom. I looked up to them and I still believe my Grandma was the most wonderful woman in the world to this day. But what I want to talk about comes from my ota. He, a few times, had told me a story under the pretenses of proving to me that heaven was real, about how his father, at a very old age, was lying on his death bed and he and his mother were both there in the room (not sure who else). His father passed away and his mom pounded on his chest in frustration begging him not to leave her yet. After a minute, or roundabout, he did come back to life and he asked her why she did that. He explained that he had been in heaven and it was so beautiful. Why did she bring him back? My Grandpa (ota) explained it very seriously and said that it was how he knew without a doubt that heaven existed. His father lived for a little time longer but when he passed, I believe his story of heaven helped all his loved ones deal with the loss and possibly, as I believe it should for all of us, made them happy that he left one life to start his eternal life.
One last short little story. Last night I was talking to a wonderful woman who has attached her life to a man that I had given up on. This man is a family member of mine and has chosen a path in life that is very hurtful to not only him but to many others and has spent lots of time behind bars because of it. She turned to me for some advice which I am always all to willing to give my opinion even though I think I'm a bit crazy. And through the discussions she gave me a huge compliment that made my heart smile. My crazy, unusual beliefs were shared and somehow out of it she says, "right on i have never thought of it that way. you know i really like talking to you it is nice t talk to a person that makes things better makes people feel good about themselves." It made me very warm inside and I hope that I have that effect on others in my life down my path.
Thanks for reading,
James
I'm not one of those people who really enjoys watching the news but every time I open my browser I like to look through the headlines and when something catches my attention I check it out. Today there was a story about a young boy, 11 years old, who at the age of 4 had his appendix burst and wasn't noticed for like 5 days and when they realized there were some issues, he was taken to the hospital but his chances looked bad. Apparently, he "died" during this process because he says he was in "Heaven" sitting on Jesus' lap. The young boy saw his sister in heaven (she was never born, she was a miscarriage that Mom and Dad never told this young man about) and also his Great Grandpa (on his dads side apparently). This whole thing turned into a book, which I am thinking about getting, called "Heaven is for Real".
I have some very unorthodox beliefs but no matter what my beliefs are, this to me is an amazingly beautiful story. And it also is a somewhat familiar story to me as well. I've discussed my childhood in regards to my father situation but I never mentioned how my "oma and ota" were such a very large part of turning me into the man I am. For a time period (the amount of years I am unsure) I lived with them instead of my mom. I looked up to them and I still believe my Grandma was the most wonderful woman in the world to this day. But what I want to talk about comes from my ota. He, a few times, had told me a story under the pretenses of proving to me that heaven was real, about how his father, at a very old age, was lying on his death bed and he and his mother were both there in the room (not sure who else). His father passed away and his mom pounded on his chest in frustration begging him not to leave her yet. After a minute, or roundabout, he did come back to life and he asked her why she did that. He explained that he had been in heaven and it was so beautiful. Why did she bring him back? My Grandpa (ota) explained it very seriously and said that it was how he knew without a doubt that heaven existed. His father lived for a little time longer but when he passed, I believe his story of heaven helped all his loved ones deal with the loss and possibly, as I believe it should for all of us, made them happy that he left one life to start his eternal life.
One last short little story. Last night I was talking to a wonderful woman who has attached her life to a man that I had given up on. This man is a family member of mine and has chosen a path in life that is very hurtful to not only him but to many others and has spent lots of time behind bars because of it. She turned to me for some advice which I am always all to willing to give my opinion even though I think I'm a bit crazy. And through the discussions she gave me a huge compliment that made my heart smile. My crazy, unusual beliefs were shared and somehow out of it she says, "right on i have never thought of it that way. you know i really like talking to you it is nice t talk to a person that makes things better makes people feel good about themselves." It made me very warm inside and I hope that I have that effect on others in my life down my path.
Thanks for reading,
James
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