Well, it’s been nine months and 999 posts. I hope I’ve answered some questions, fought some ignorance and maybe even made some people smile. As I approached this, my 1000th post, I recalledPolycarp’s thread for his 4000th post. Following his example, I wanted to make this post somewhat meaningful, at least to me. Here’s my best shot.
There have been a few threads in the past month or so regarding personal mottos and the like. I wanted to take a moment to discuss some of my thoughts on matters of such.
Do the right thing.
It’s not a novel concept. Shakespeare hinted along these lines; so did T. S. Eliot. Heck, so did Spike Lee.
Shakespeare addressed this with “this above all: to thine own self be true” in Hamlet, Act I, Scene iii. Of course, he meant compromising your principles, which sort of follows this, provided your principles are “right”. In that this was Polonius talking to Laertes, the principles were those of a noble.
However, doing the right thing is not as easy as it might seem. Attempts, while not lacking in desire, are often sidetracked with rage, revenge, jealousy and other confounding factors. It is easy to convince ourselves that we should be nice to our adversary because we may need to ask a favor of him later. The urge to tell a child the truth about an ex-spouse may be incredibly strong, especially if that ex-spouse is less than honest with that child. How many people give to charities or do volunteer work for the recognition? This is not in the spirit of doing the right thing. I’d like to amend this little saying to read:
Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
I am a firm believer in this. I’m not the only one. T. S. Eliot in Murder in the Cathedral has a character state, “The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right thing for the wrong reason.” Only when we do the right thing for the right reason are we being true to “thine own selves”. Be civil to your adversary because it is the right thing to do; it may even change the way they view you. Give because it’s the right thing to do; it is much more fulfilling that way. It is at this time that we are happiest.
Certainly you have done something good for the right reasons. It might have been when you found a baby bird under its nest. Fearing that the mother would not touch it if you touched it, you coaxed it onto a stick and gently placed it back in the nest. This was done purely for the bird’s benefit; no pictures were taken; no newspaper stories were written about you.
Maybe it was when you found that plastic bag on the side of the road when you were walking and used to hold all the subsequent trash you picked up. There was no trophy, no sign along that stretch of road with your name on it.
Maybe it was when your friend called you at 2:00 am crying and you stayed up 2 hours on a weeknight just listening. You didn’t do it because one day you might be calling her at 2:00 am; you did it because you truly care about the health and happiness of another person. You did the right thing, and did it because it was the right thing to do.
This is when we are truly happy. We are giving of ourselves without selfishness. We are giving without taking – sowing without expectation of reaping. This is when we are making a positive difference. This is when we are helping the world along in the right direction.
So I finish this post. I hope I presented something for you to think about – sort of “food for thought”. And, by your leave, I’ll stick around for at least 1000 more.
Always,
Spritle
