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I was recently reading a book and came across some interesting ideas. The fiction book (fiction normally means it is not true but made up although many fiction books are based on truth) said that when any crimes are committed you can narrow it down to one of 5 different motives. 1. LUST 2.ENVY 3. ANGER 4.AVARICE 5. VENGEANCE. Ok so I must admit I did not know what Avarice was so I looked it up. Avarice is GREED or when you are really unbalanced and will do anything or money.
So I thought about these for a few minutes and later I had a dream about them and woke up and wrote some thoughts down. In the book the person points out that rather than calling these motives it would be better to call them "failings" They also said that someone that is affected by these enough to kill has a hate of the truth. You really have to think about that one.
So I thought if we took the opposite of these 5 things what would happen? If these attitudes,behaviors or failings cause you or give you reason to do bad things would trying to develop the opposite of each one cause to do do good things? Many times we define good and bad differently than we did in the past. Let's look at the opposites. 1.Love or selflessness 2. Admiration and being happy for the success of others. 3. Joy or Happiness not indifference. 4.Being generous by donating your time and money to good causes and being a giving person. 5. Forgiveness and this in the bible is to be done 70 x 70 although if the person does not really repent then you should not let them keep taking advantage of you so there are basic guidelines you can follow. So trying to develop these good opposites should help you become a better person if logic stands to reason. I was thinking of some of the other opposites and not all of them fall into what you might call good and evil although they should be on the list.
Lies - Truth
Destructive - Creative
Apathetic - Proactive
Dirty - Clean
No plan - plan
Cheating - faithful/loyal
Negative - Positive
Dishonest - Honest/trust
Evil - Good
Force - Patience
Hate - Love
Act Without thinking - Prudent
Manipulate - Allow
Wasteful - frugal
Disorganized - Orderly
Violence - Passive
Offense - Defense
Covert - Overt
Grounded - Liberty
Selfish - Service
Addictions - Self Control
Rude - Courteous
When you look at these items the more we act upon the positive the more people will want to be around us. Most people shy away from very selfish people or rude people. Most churches tend to teach that God, the Higher Power, Christ or Buddha have these qualities. Does Karma always pay off? I don't know but many people would like to believe it does by paying mean evil people with bad things. Personally I don't think God goes around rewarding evil with evil that is not the nature of God as we find in the holy scriptures.
Rather than avoiding Lust why don't we love. Rather than avoiding envy why not be grateful for what we have and appreciate it when others do well? Rather than avoiding anger can't we just not allow others to get under our skin, no one makes me angry I choose to be angry. Rather than avoiding greed we should strive to do the best we can and share when it is appropriate. Rather than avoiding vengeance could we become the type of people that did not hold onto grudges or dwell on the bad about people? Someone that has a hate of the truth implies that they understand what is true and what is not and they prefer to be on the other site of things.
A person that is a loving, grateful,happy, generous and forgiving person is much nicer to be around when you look at the opposite. So my challenge to each one of you is to start changing one or two things every month so you can start to follow the opposites and become a nicer person. No matter your religion or beliefs.
