Saturday, February 19, 2011

For Better or For Worse?

Of the nearly 7 billion people in the world, no two people are exactly the same. Subhanallah. With the diverse population, we also get a wide range of different behavior, reactions, thoughts, emotions, etc that define social or even anti-social occurrences.

Like all people, I have beliefs and ideals. I have a set notion of what constitutes of good and bad, of preferable and ill-advised behaviors and mindsets. Though I acknowledge that it's rarely so straightforward, I have my own idea of good and bad.

So if my actions are along the line of what I call "good", going down the list of superlatives, is there a 'better' and 'best'? If I gave up my seat in the bus for that old lady, am I better than the rest of the people who didn't? I like to think that I'm a good person, but to think that I'm 'better'...would be conceited. That said, sometimes those conceited thoughts creep stealthily into my Brain until when I finally realize it, they've been there for quite a while, with me carrying its notion. Am I better?

I contemplate this system of judgment as I watch an old man talking animatedly to a grill at the train station. He's not doing anything bad, at least not in my books, therefore I cannot definitively say that I am better than him.

That must be a judgmental flaw, I think, as the old man holds up two forks, one in each hand, and starts telling them off for being ignorant. But even then, I still can't consider myself better than him.

"Ha! Tahu tak?" the old man dramatically exclaims to the forks, head nodding in a superior, knowing way.

Am I better?

No, I just do the best I can, according to my own definitions. Just like everyone else.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you'll want to add a facebook button to your site. I just bookmarked the blog, although I had to complete it manually. Just my $.02 :)

ummu kulthum said...

yes, do the best we can

Jiyuu said...

@Anonymous:
Thank you for bookmarking. And completely manual? Oh wow, I'm so touched!! I appreciated your cents, but for now I can't oblige because my facebook account is currently deactivated. I'm conducting an experiment to see if life without facebook is possible.

@Ummu Kulthum
Let's all just keep trying our best. Ganbare!

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