The Capacity for Practicing Good

I am currently reading The Greatest Generation, primarily about WW II veterans’ experiences and family members that accompanied this unexpected emotional upheaval and redefined moments for many Americans.

There is one story of a medic, who did not want to enter the conflict in the Pacific to take lives, but to save them. He luckily came back in one piece, but lost an eye in the process while saving another GI needing bandaging to stop loss of blood.

What occurred to me is that in a time of peace, we have an abundance of conflicting ideals and areas to reach consensus.

Yet, each day I have a distinct benefit to not necessarily save someone as the medic did, but I can enhance another’s viability, build an individual’s confidence and empower one to see their innate goodness and abilities. ?

When one sees this power they have within, they in turn can walk forward in realizing the light they can offer, and it has the potential to multiply this luminosity for all involved. When you are given that radiance by someone, it seems to me that we have a responsibility to share it.

As one example, when someone shares some personal information with you, and took the time to trust you, I consider it an honor and a privilege to be there with them for that moment in time.

The information that is shared in conversation, often when one is feeling at a low point takes courage. Some might argue that reaching out is a sign of weakness, you should stuff your problems, and just deal with what circumstances hand you.

I think we have interdependency with one another that cannot be overlooked, and to ask another for guidance is a sign of strength. We need each other to survive.

Often, I do not have full answers for another’s plight. Frequently, I do not have a recipe for cooking up a new game plan for seeing another out of their own rut.

What I do have is the capacity to listen, share my own escapades of good decisions I have made and share the ones I wish I could have done differently.

In my life, I have many innumerable misfires, stories of love gone wrong and mischievous or misguided behavior. By some miraculous chance of fate, someone set me back on a path where I did not fall victim to too many empty-headed mistakes or face my own unfortunate demise.

Many times, we cannot fix a situation, but we can see it through, face the reality, and we become better for the episode or ordeal we dealt with. I thank those people who helped me face realities at a time when it seemed insurmountable or I was clueless.

Like the WW II medic who said, “I am no hero. I did what was needed at the time, just like so many others.” We all have this capacity.

What I love about the human spirit and the medic is that we have the capacity to do so many benign and altruistic acts. What frightens me is we also have the capacity to do acts of wickedness and monumental evil.

If I can side more often with the capacity for practicing even an ounce of good, it is worth a pound of well-being and positive fervor that potentially spreads and multiplies like a good virus.