Monday, February 21, 2011

Character

I used to think I was a pretty good judge of character, but I bet if you asked any one of my friends they'd tell you otherwise. The truth is, I always think people are mostly good. I think they will do the right thing, make the right choice, and most of the time, I'm incredibly shocked when things don't play out the way I expect them to.

For me, it's hard to pinpoint the character of someone I haven't known for years. There are a few people of irrefutably good character such as Mother Theresa and Jesus, and of course on the flip side of the spectrum we have murderers, thieves, and the like. The reality is, most everyone else falls into the gray area.

So, how can you tell? Is it based on one small action. . . the culmination of a series of poor or excellent choices? Is it a lifetime of behavior weighed by a higher power at the end of it all? What is character, and how do we classify ourselves?

I like to think I'm a good person. I try to do the right thing, be kind and compassionate to others, and live an honest life. But for as many times as I've been hurt, I'm sure I've done my share of hurting. And as hard as I might have tried, I know I've ended up on at least a couple of "misjudged" lists in my day.

I think in the end, you can't truly and completely judge a character. What you can "judge" is a glimpse- a mere moment in time of knowing someone. Maybe they were having a bad day, bad month, bad year. Is it really fair to write someone off as having poor character based on one or even a few experiences? Maybe. I have a friend who can predict the character of someone after speaking with them for only a short amount of time. And honestly, she's spot on 99% of the time.

For me, a person not gifted in the field of character judging, that would mean assuming everyone is horrible and walking through life hopeless and discouraged- waiting to be jilted, short changed, screwed over. The truth is, I just can't do that. I will continue to believe that people are good. I want to be hopeful and optimistic, even if it means ending up with a few more broken hearts or battle scars.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a great person! And honestly, I believe it's better to go through life an eternal optimist than constantly second guessing people and assuming they're all going to screw you over. I don't like when people have a set opinion about someone after one meeting, like you said - they may have just been having a bad moment/day/month and aren't like that all the time. Stick to your gut and listen to your heart, they won't steer you wrong in the end!

C'est La Vie said...

Aw, thanks Ang :)

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