Anyway Goodness

Even if people are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered, we still forgive them.
Even if they think we have selfish, ulterior motives for our kindness, we still show it.
Even if we win some false friends and true enemies, we still continue to succeed.
Even if they cheat on us because of our honesty and frankness, we still become honest and frank.
Even if they destroy what we spent building for years, we can start again.
Even if they're jealous of our serenity and happiness within, we still become happy.
Even if they forget the good we do today, we still do good.
Even if we've given them our best, and they may find it never enough, we still do it.

These are thoughts I got from a poem by Mother Teresa. And they're familiar scenarios to us. We still show goodness amidst these relational difficulties because what matters at the end of the day is we follow a calling to walk the path of right virtue. And that's where our character is formed.

It is believed that humans are inclined to do good and avoid evil. Yet, in our capacity to do both good and evil, we need guidance to pursue the better calling.

The good life is a struggle worth the reward. Demonstrating the goodness in all that we say and do, in all that we are, is where we spring out the attitude of leaving people, places, and things better than we found them.

And undoubtedly, it requires courage. Living with goodness is countercultural. We're told to focus on our happiness and to live our dreams as long as we're not hurting others. We just do what we want. We focus on ourselves, our needs, and our desires. But this gives a problem. It may sound like self-care, but it can also give us blind spots. What we do may be seen as nothing wrong, but they could mean differently to others, given their context.

Living with goodness doesn't mean walking the path full of roses as we want to. It's walking the path bravely, fighting to do good every step of the way. 

In that sense, doing good is good in itself. Why? Paul Bloomfield lists 10 reasons:

1. Because being bad is bad.

2. It's the only way to have a chance at having self-respect.

3. Being good lets you see what is truly of value in the world.

4. Those with mixed motivations (some selfish, instrumental, and career-oriented) don't perform better than those with unmixed and purely intrinsic ones. (This is based on a recent study of West Point by cadets.)

5. It means taking care of yourself.

6. Being good means that while you can be passionate, you can choose what you are passionate about.
7. You'll be courageous and brave amidst danger, pain, and social rejection.
8. You'll be wise as you can be when you are old and grey.

9. It means that we are lovers of the good. And if we are lucky, it means that we will be loved by those who are themselves good.
10. Because of 1-9 above, only good people can live their happiest lives.

From here, we can see that doing good is the way forward. This is our calling. It leads to this good life. It's a life with true meaning despite the hurdles and obstacles faced.

Doing good also means having a life dedicated to serving others. It has a mindset of adding value to the life of others. We make their lives so much better because we're there.

When a person lives and breathes goodness, others around can feel it, therefore being touched and inspired. And it's a great achievement to be that ever-springing source.

So how can we be a channel of goodness? Here are three points:

1. Recognize the experiences of goodness in your life.
Let's have a few minutes to pause, think, and reflect on the times we experience life's goodness despite the difficulties. We can only overflow with goodness to others when we're full of the reality of this goodness. We count on them and be grateful for them.

2. Ready yourself to be a vessel of goodness.
When we become that vessel, we can be useful in any situation life calls us to. Having that vessel full allows us to do anything to serve people in love.

3. Rely on the power of circumstances to bring out the good in us.
Life can overwhelm us with a lot of things. We lose our courage to do good. But if we look back at how far we've come, there's the goodness we experienced moment by moment that we carry on until now. And there's more of the good and beautiful to come. We embrace everything that comes our way, see the goodness in them, and carry on.

We may receive goodness from others or give that piece to them. Either way, the important thing is we manifest it every time. This path can be wearisome, but let's be encouraged to continue and not give up. 

What we do may seem in vain, but they're not. They're doing something in our lives and in the lives around us. It may take time to see the outcome, but it doesn't mean nothing's happening. At the right time, the full harvest will come.

Let's keep the fuel to continue doing good. We commit to rest. We surround ourselves with others who have this kind of mindset. They can hold us up and give us encouragement when we need it. We invest ourselves in the things around us that can help us learn ways to persevere in doing good. And most importantly, we keep our eyes on the prize.

And doing good can bring so much more to us:

* All will go well, no matter the circumstances.
* It brings joy.
* It's pleasing to be seen living in that manner.
* We reflect a humanly good nature.
* We show others the way of love.
* We avoid any hindrance of goodness to stand in the way.
* We improve the world around us, even in our little way. 
* No good thing will be withheld as long as it's for the common good.

So when life gives us great things, we accept them humbly. When it's the awful things, we give goodness anyway. In time, they'll turn into goodness And when our battle in life is over, we've finished the fight with the goodness strongly present in us. Keep pushing! Keep shining!