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chelidon(slightly edited version of a comment made here)
What is unacceptable? I keep coming back to face that question over the last year and a half, in ways both gentle and severe.
I find that for myself, in addition to being inspired by dedication, steadfastness, service, generousity, and grace in others, I have also been blessed with being witness in the world to a wide range of unacceptable, unethical, reprehensible and despicable behaviours, to serve as crystal-clear examples of who and how not to be. Yes, it's a world of greys, but even here, there are those people, situations and circumstances that can, and really should, serve as a stark wake-up call: "you don't have to live like that," "you don't have to make the same mistakes they did/are," "you don't have to take this lying down," "you can do better than that."
I come back to Hunter S. Thompson's lovely quote, "it may be that your entire purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others." I note that can be turned around quite easily. As much as I feel it's important to live life positively, defining oneself by who and what one is, as opposed to who and what one is not, there is power and use in noting the counter-examples, the warning signs, the absolute craziness in the world, and calling it like it is.
Acknowledging that there are individual variations in personal truths doesn't mean everything is purely relative, that there is no moral obligation to stand up for what is right, and just, and good. The fact that there are people out there who abuse their beliefs, or who abuse others through their beliefs, who excuse selfish, egotistical, mean-spirited, and plain shameful behavior as just following their own truths, doesn't mean that one should excuse these reprehensible things, or, worse, fail to follow one's own convictions. There are people, actions, choices, moral and ethical stances which are unacceptable. And it is up to every one of us to stand for what we believe in. If we don't , we abdicate our birthright to manifest the world as we know it could be, as we know it should be.
There is a better world out there. And nobody but us to build it.
What is unacceptable? I keep coming back to face that question over the last year and a half, in ways both gentle and severe.
I find that for myself, in addition to being inspired by dedication, steadfastness, service, generousity, and grace in others, I have also been blessed with being witness in the world to a wide range of unacceptable, unethical, reprehensible and despicable behaviours, to serve as crystal-clear examples of who and how not to be. Yes, it's a world of greys, but even here, there are those people, situations and circumstances that can, and really should, serve as a stark wake-up call: "you don't have to live like that," "you don't have to make the same mistakes they did/are," "you don't have to take this lying down," "you can do better than that."
I come back to Hunter S. Thompson's lovely quote, "it may be that your entire purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others." I note that can be turned around quite easily. As much as I feel it's important to live life positively, defining oneself by who and what one is, as opposed to who and what one is not, there is power and use in noting the counter-examples, the warning signs, the absolute craziness in the world, and calling it like it is.
Acknowledging that there are individual variations in personal truths doesn't mean everything is purely relative, that there is no moral obligation to stand up for what is right, and just, and good. The fact that there are people out there who abuse their beliefs, or who abuse others through their beliefs, who excuse selfish, egotistical, mean-spirited, and plain shameful behavior as just following their own truths, doesn't mean that one should excuse these reprehensible things, or, worse, fail to follow one's own convictions. There are people, actions, choices, moral and ethical stances which are unacceptable. And it is up to every one of us to stand for what we believe in. If we don't , we abdicate our birthright to manifest the world as we know it could be, as we know it should be.
There is a better world out there. And nobody but us to build it.
