Saturday, October 14, 2017
When I Was A Fool...
By: Donovan Baldwin
A few years ago, there was a time in my life when it seemed that everything I did, everything I thought, was "wrong".
People told me, and life demonstrated, it seemed, that I was a fool.
I wanted to argue my case, "prove" that I was right. Even more I wanted "them" to know that they were wrong.
Finally, I hit on the ultimate solution: I was going to outlive everybody! That way the time would come when I could laugh at them because they were dead, I was alive, and I was "right" by default.
Over time I came to realize a couple of problems with that plan.
First, being alive didn't make me right, and, them being dead sort of took all the fun out of being right...if I WAS right.
See, that was the problem.
Ninety-nine percent of the "rights" and "wrongs" in the equation were "beliefs" and "opinions"...not facts.
It was then I began to see the real solution. Proving that my "right" was the "right" right was impossible. In fact, I could even be wrong!
That wasn't right!
Then I figured out the real solution.
I can only live and enjoy life doing what I BELIEVE is right. It doesn't really matter what others think or say about my honest beliefs.
So, they can be right, I can be right, even though one of us may be wrong.
As long as I do what I think is right, I don't need to worry about what they think is right.
Right?
People told me, and life demonstrated, it seemed, that I was a fool.
I wanted to argue my case, "prove" that I was right. Even more I wanted "them" to know that they were wrong.
Finally, I hit on the ultimate solution: I was going to outlive everybody! That way the time would come when I could laugh at them because they were dead, I was alive, and I was "right" by default.
Over time I came to realize a couple of problems with that plan.
First, being alive didn't make me right, and, them being dead sort of took all the fun out of being right...if I WAS right.
See, that was the problem.
Ninety-nine percent of the "rights" and "wrongs" in the equation were "beliefs" and "opinions"...not facts.
It was then I began to see the real solution. Proving that my "right" was the "right" right was impossible. In fact, I could even be wrong!
That wasn't right!
Then I figured out the real solution.
I can only live and enjoy life doing what I BELIEVE is right. It doesn't really matter what others think or say about my honest beliefs.
So, they can be right, I can be right, even though one of us may be wrong.
As long as I do what I think is right, I don't need to worry about what they think is right.
Right?
Labels: beliefs, donovan baldwin, how to live, life lesson, live your own life, opinions, right, right and wrong, wrong
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Thinking About Right And Wrong...
By: Donovan Baldwin
We often think about "right and wrong" as if each of us always knows exactly what that is.
I know that I have at times.
A year or so ago, I canceled cable and switched to antenna TV.
While I do get many current TV programs, a lot of what's available goes back to much earlier times. Lassie and The Lone Ranger...stuff like that. Columbo, Adam-12, Emergency, and Quincy M.E. Shows from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.
What's really interesting to me is the evidence of social groupings, commonly held beliefs, and "normal" activity that might get someone thrown in jail today.
Sure, it's fiction, but, it reflected the thought processes of the day, and, watching from my imperial height of 72 years, it becomes plain to me how, in many ways, and, in many minds, "right" and "wrong" have changed places been redefined or assigned new or different values.
While genuine right and wrong might not change, otherwise they would not be right or wrong, perceived right and wrong goes up and down, back and forth depending on the prevailing winds blowing through the society and government of the moment.
It can be confusing, even without the pressures of modern, multi-cultural society, to decide what to believe, who to support, and what virtue, or vice, to admit to.
I just do my best from day to day, and hope everything comes out okay.
I have lived through seven decades and am on my eighth, give me a break, please.
My concepts and definitions of right and wrong may not always be the same as yours.
I know that I have at times.
A year or so ago, I canceled cable and switched to antenna TV.
While I do get many current TV programs, a lot of what's available goes back to much earlier times. Lassie and The Lone Ranger...stuff like that. Columbo, Adam-12, Emergency, and Quincy M.E. Shows from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.
What's really interesting to me is the evidence of social groupings, commonly held beliefs, and "normal" activity that might get someone thrown in jail today.
Sure, it's fiction, but, it reflected the thought processes of the day, and, watching from my imperial height of 72 years, it becomes plain to me how, in many ways, and, in many minds, "right" and "wrong" have changed places been redefined or assigned new or different values.
While genuine right and wrong might not change, otherwise they would not be right or wrong, perceived right and wrong goes up and down, back and forth depending on the prevailing winds blowing through the society and government of the moment.
It can be confusing, even without the pressures of modern, multi-cultural society, to decide what to believe, who to support, and what virtue, or vice, to admit to.
I just do my best from day to day, and hope everything comes out okay.
I have lived through seven decades and am on my eighth, give me a break, please.
My concepts and definitions of right and wrong may not always be the same as yours.
Labels: donovan baldwin, life lesson, right, right and wrong, society, wrong
