The Paradoxical Commandments
Not mine, but an alternative.
So, reflecting further upon Losing My Religion...
One of the things I came across years ago... seems like at least a couple lifetimes ago... and tucked away until stumbling upon a digital scrap squirreled away in one of many repositories... was this. No less difficult to live by than the very silly, very archaic biblical Ten Commandments (c'mon, let's be real folks... George Carlin's insight is <chef's kiss>), but far more relevant and humanistic.
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas
can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001
I can't say I've held to these, or aspired to them, well enough over the years. I'm human. I'm fallible. I'm imperfect. I find that there are some people impossible to love, even in the Greek 'agape' sense... they are so flawed and irredeemable. I've given myself permission NOT to love them while challenging myself NOT to hate them (Give in to the Dark Side, Luke)... maybe pity them... be disgusted by them... but consciously avoid the vitriolic hate that they may hold and exude themselves.
So, these have stuck with me over time... even as many of the recent years have so seriously challenged my faith in humanity in so many aspects of my life. In some ways, in addition to my family, my loves, my friends, and my mentors, these (well, to be honest, with a heavy dose of Carlin) have shaped my ethos... consciously and subconsciously... as I grew older and experienced more. I do what I do because I believe it is the right thing to do, the best thing to do... not just for myself, but for others, as well (I know may not always do the right thing from another's POV... but there's a difference). I say what I say, the way I say it, because I believe they are the right things, the true things, the things that need to be said (I know others may think I may say the wrong thing sometimes, too).
I'm not a superhero, or a genius with the capability to save the world singlehandedly... but no one should expect that on anyone else, much less themselves. Humans are at their best when they work with together... with humility and respect... with kindness and empathy... with dignity... with hope.
I suffer the foolishness of no man, but I will suffer any work... any struggle... any pain... with any and all of my friends and colleagues when aiming for something better... something bigger... beyond ourselves.