Weekend musings: Human interactions

I have always been intrigued by human behaviour and have been fascinated by its variety and diversity. As any child, I was also taught what good behaviour and bad. Based on my early childhood learnings always put people into either the good bin or the bad one. This might have continued without realising that how wrong I was. Fortunately, I had a chance to see a substantial part of the world. Also, I got an opportunity to work with people from diverse cultures. This exposure eventually shook my earlier notion of good and bad, right and wrong.?

With time I realised was that it was all relative and, in fact, right and wrong; good and bad are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. What really matters is the strength of character. If a strong person's belief system matches yours, one can collaborate with them; otherwise, one can stay clear of them. It is easy to deal with strong-willed even in a dispute or a clash, and such conflicts and disagreements strengthen one and are a great learning experience. So in my life, I have found it easy to work with, stay clear or disagree with people of strong character, and all these interactions have been enriching.?

On the other hand, my experiences with the weak-willed have been very different. They tend to earn your trust, and you exert yourself to help them in their endeavours with the hope that they will become strong. In many cases, they improve and make a good life for themselves, but some cannot shed their weakness and remain perennially weak. These are the ones that invariably always create a dilemma or a Dharam Sankat and put one in a tight spot.?

In none of my friendly or not-so-friendly interactions or outright conflict, with the strong-willed, I had to deviate from my principles. But I can't say so for the perennially weak-willed that I have encountered. Not only does one has to compromise with the principles, but more often than not, one has to face humiliation. In the end, you wonder whether you won or lost or maybe just survived.?