Being Good: A Choice We Make

You'll agree with me when I say the world we're in is a harsh one. I mean, just look around and see the things happening. It's hard not to agree that such is the state of our current world. Is it meant to be this way? I won't say it was meant to be so. It seems like there's no goodness in the world. But then, I know goodness still exists, and that it shows up as one human being or another. The world is really harsh and it gets harsher with the times passing by, but goodness still exists.

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As I mentioned, goodness exists in the form of humans. It's not something to deny, because we can attest to the fact that there are people we ourselves and others have termed as good. Okay, let's not get it wrong. We all as humans have failures and shortcomings which we can say strips away the goodness tag attached. I guess those shortcomings are part of human nature as we aren't beings who are perfect or flawless. So when we check the records, we see that the goodness of such people highly supersedes their shortcomings, with no close comparison.

Were they born good? No. Goodness isn't a character that's inherent. It's something that involves intentionality. When I go by my Christian faith, I know what equips a person with the character of goodness. But staying on the lane I've been on, I'll say again that being good involves intentionality. This is evident in how a person lives, relates with others, and how they do things, and more. It's something we can say that when we consider a person's character－the superficiality now－we can understand if they're good or not.

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Yes, I recognise that evil itself can be masked in good characters, which makes me consider that there's more to look into when considering what it means to be good. I'll say then that it goes beyond that. They say time reveals things. I guess it does in such situations. Being good could mean being a peace-loving person, a person of integrity, a blameless person, one who does right to their fellow human as much as possible and desires no hurt or pain to another. There's the place of morality and humanity; two things we can't look away from.

I don't know if there are metrics the world uses to define what being good means. But I think the above-mentioned count in some way. When it comes to being good, it's a deliberate effort not an inherent thing. That's why we won't do some things because we know they aren't good, especially by the standards of morality. It's the same reason there are people who come from homes adjudged to be good but are quite the opposite. There's a decision and effort involved. We may not have a scale for it, but somehow we know it. And I believe there are good people.

Thank you for reading!