We may not realize that the decisions we make are wrong until it’s too late. It’s in our nature…
Bull Moose battle frozen in time (credit: Jeff Erickson)
We’re taught certain truths from our earliest moments by those who come before us. One of those truths is to do unto others as they would do unto you. Whether you follow a religion closely or not, this motto should be familiar to you. Its message is pretty hard to question once you’ve lived the results for yourself.
Love begets love, and hatred begets more hatred. It is a rare person who can reciprocate with the opposite if they understand the aforementioned motto. There are variations to this motto, but the underlying understanding is the same: expect to get back what you give out.
The world at large is going through another cycle of hatred (or maybe it just woke up again), partially caused by fear and also caused by selfishness. It’s hard to see that light will diminish the shadows once darkness has thickened.
Light can only penetrate dark if it has help, whether by chopping down that which blocks the light or holding a light up against the darkness. Both actions hold merit depending on what the darkness throws out and who receives the message. We always hope that we’ll be the bigger person and let love win, but sometimes even love cannot overcome hate or fear.
Yin and Yang are the opposite sides to life, and they need one another to exist. There will be people who bring forth love, but there will be more who cannot fight their natural instincts. If nature’s battles, like the bull moose fight found in Alaska by Jeff Erickson, prove that it is hard to overcome inner instincts, then we’ll also follow similar paths ourselves.
The only difference is that human’s actions are typically supported by thoughts that show purity or impurity. Not of truth, but of intentions. And that’s where Do Unto Others takes on importance, because your words and actions carry consequences. It won’t matter where you stand in life. What you send out will come back to you. Your pretty words of denial won’t stop those collective reactions, because you failed the basic test of understanding. You either see other points of view or you don’t. Or you simply don’t care…
If you show that you don’t care about others, why would you expect them to care for you?
Like the Bull Moose, your fate resides in whether you see a future for all or just your own. If it’s the latter, then don’t be surprised at what you get back.
…just saying
