The Genuine, the Jerks and the Greedy

It seems like these are the general classifications we give others around us.

There are the lovely people who we put high on a pedestal; we wish we were more like them.

There are the idiots who we feel were simply born that way and there is no turning them around.

Then there are people who seem to have everything, want more and everything that drives them is based on greed.

Then we tack “The End” onto it…because, uh we don’t know what else to add to those sentences.

It seems like an obstacle or too much of a bother to really continue any of the phrases. They seem complete, right? He’s lovely, she’s an idiot and they’re greedy. The End.

Well in good philosophical fashion (with an added determination to figure some stuff out…lol) I can never let the period at the end of a sentence be. I hate when a good film ends but more so, I hate when a brutal story ends badly.

Now not everyone is unwilling to continue their thoughts. Some do it eloquently and some kick the crap out of the sentence. I land somewhere in the middle. I strive for eloquence but then sometimes I add on too much. ;)

If we think someone is lovely, we don’t bother emulating them, asking them for advice or delving into what makes them so nice. If someone is a jerk, we aren’t terribly interested in what caused it. If someone is greedy, we don’t want to know how they arrived at that solution for their life.

We’d rather, ‘ignore them’, ‘kill them’, ‘ostracize them’, ‘argue with them’ or ‘lock ‘em up’.

Yup. That is our grand solution from what we consider the highest form of intelligence on the planet.

It’s a very sad situation which I think calls for us to examine our views, not to change their consequences. Our only responsibility on this planet is to keep our own mind in alignment for how we can be really good stewards of the planet. I believe being good a steward means we look after the earth and all that is in it. Our job isn’t to control any one thing or person that is on it.

So how can we give up this control? Well, you may say the planet needs controlling more than ever. I urge you to really think about that statement before jotting it down and consider how out of control ‘control’ has become. Of course there are consequences for actions and I hear the ‘karma’s gonna getcha’ saying too much. I believe this calls for us to look at our own spirit in an effort to be the ideal person and avoid becoming that which we truly hate. Many people will say we have become a lazy society. I’m not really interested in those kinds of generalizations because they don’t actually fix anything. I am very interested however in what I can do as an individual to be the best steward I can be.

I’ve blogged extensively about getting to the root of a problem, but I think it’s also worthwhile to go back and find the root of things that flourish. When you see someone lovely, how did they get that way?

Do you have the ability to go back really far to see how someone became the way they did? At the very least do you have the desire to become the type of person who seeks a solution? Do you hack at the plant or get to its roots? Maybe sometimes we need to just sit back and observe how the plant grows before grabbing weed whackers or poison.

Do you see problematic people as problems or are you able to view it as a challenge and opportunity to invoke change?

I believe having an understanding of why people are the way they are doesn’t stop them from suffering their own consequences, I think it just puts us in a better frame of mind to figure out the best solution and start solving problems instead of adding to them.

Otherwise, we can remain jaded, angry and intolerant in a world where the statistics of every bad thing is going up, not down. What if we were the generation who really did start making an impact? If we strive for this mentality, we might not fix a single thing, but we can be very proud of our character and how we aren’t the ones who contributed to the staggering number of people who fight, gossip, bicker and control each other.

Who knows? In our trailblazing, we might even stumble across a way to become one of the lovely folks.

Much love on ya!

Karen :)

“Astonishment is the root of philosophy.” ~Paul Tillich