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Good person...Would you desribe yourself as a good person and if so explain why with examples and how being that way has worked positively for you or to your detriment. Use your own photos.
"From the house of a good man, one can point to the ruins of the evil man's dwelling."
She would draw her ears because in doing so, she was telling me to listen and pay serious attention to her words. It was one of my Grandma's ways of teaching a wide-eyed seven year old, morals. She implied that doing good leads to peace and longevity while evil would only lead to downfall and destruction.
It was on one of our tours round the village, she walked ahead of me, holding my hand firmly as I trudged behind her. I was curious to know why some compounds were overgrown with weeds and in dilapidated states, with no sign of life in them, I wondered if they belonged to someone or to a family and if yes, where they went off to, leaving their compounds so unkempt, when ours was so well-maintained. Grandma would always answer my questions no matter how stupid they seemed.
"You see that house over there, 'Aja' visited 'Ikenga' many years ago for sleeping with Amadi's pregnant wife." 'Aja' killed him.
"That one before the market square was owned by 'Utebor', he forcefully had carnal knowledge of Uturu's 'untouched' daughter and denied it, alleging it was consensual. The girl committed suicide and 'Aja' tore his manhood off before killing him".
Who was 'Aja' you might ask? He was a very powerful diety in my community, who moved with the whirlwind, executing instant judgement in severe cases of injustice and turning the residence of the convict into a dunghill. It would tip on it, lorry loads of sand, rendering it cursed and unhabitable forever. Because it moved with the wind, he moved in the dead of the night, unseen by any but with a huge whistling sound, as it moved the sand from the valley to the home of the convict. In the mornings, you would know a tornado took place, as people with folded hands would converge close to the ruin, to mourn the closure of yet another lineage.
Of course the accused was buried in the evil Forest. This kind of 'Jungle justice' from a diety instilled fear into as many as would even think of committing the same criminal act. They were still bad people, people who were involved in varying degrees of offences but I tell you the diety fought for the defenceless and the helpless. Did it serve as a deterrent to as many? It sure did!
I was very tender when I was told stories like these and I also witnessed the length some African dieties would go to recompense the evil doers. They were not human, no one could see them nor fight them. I would say that these happenings guided my thoughts and actions in my formative years and instilled a strong sense of right and wrong earlier on. So I knew a long time as a little girl that crime never pays, so my conscience became 'super-loud', speaking to my heart whenever I intended carrying out any action.
But Christianity put an end to the worship of these deities leaving most of their shrines in ruins till date.
But later in life, I understood more about human nature. Humans are fundamentally flawed and knowing that helped me to relate with people and also myself.
I am far from perfect, but I can say that I am a good person. I don't blow my trumpet, I just allow people I have interacted with, be the judge.
I know that I try to help people who would need my help. I try not to judge others. I donβt think I will do anything to deliberately hurt someone.
Everyone gets my respect until they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don't deserve it.
I try as much as possible to treat everyone with respect, young or old, no matter what they look like, their disability, their socio economic background, their religious affiliation, their sexual orientation, nationality, colour etc.
Knowing the fallible nature of people, I don't punish for every little mistake they make. They are human after all, just like me and just as imperfect.
I don't hesitate to say I'm sorry once my mistake is pointed out to me.
I dont hold grudges forever because it could destroy the bond of a relationship.
I just try to genuinely do what's right, even if I fail sometimes but it's a struggle for me to continue on the right path.
I understand that many people are able to put on a kind of facade for the public while secretly doing things that would make others cringe, and I also know that, and believe me, we all have thoughts that could be called βevilβ at one time or the other. Itβs what you do with those thoughts that matters. Not one of us is perfect, and it is impossible for our every thought and action to be pure and clean a hundred percent of the time.
But I remember my Grandma's words to me many years ago;
"It is more of how you act when nobody is watching, If I have taught you well all these years, your moral compass would point to the truth always, it doesn't matter who sees you doing what."
These were the last words of my Grandma to me as my luggage was being put in the car. I was off to secondary school, I was twelve years old and had lived with her for five years. And she was damn right!
The faulty society of today is the failure of yesterday to point to the truth and inculcate sound morals in the children and the future is bleak from what I see now. Because there is a thing called βconsequencesβ for actions.
Whatever we put out we eventually get back. What ever we sow, we reap. If that is goodness it will find its way back, even amongst hardships. If it is bad we give out, it will also find its way back. I think anyone who choose the latter remains a fool as they end up destroying themselves in the process.
It doesn't matter to me if my good does or does not pay off at the end of the day, I would still choose to remain on 'the right side' of things.
The photo is taken from my gallery.
This is in response to @galenkp's initiative. Thank you very much @galenkp.
I am @edith-4angelseu and thank you for stopping by my neighbourhood.