Make Good Decisions
Aug 9th, 2017 by Kimberly
Or maybe there are no good people. Maybe there are only good decisions.
Reese, on Person of Interest
Continuing Monday’s theme of taking responsibility, I loved this quote from Person of Interest. If you haven’t watched it, the crux of the show is that a machine has been invented that can determine the name of a person shortly before they will be involved in a murder. Trouble is, it doesn’t specify what role the person plays, victim or murderer. Reese gets this minimal information and then is sent in to stop the murder from happening, in whatever way he can think of. Many times, the easiest way seems to involve killing the person that might commit the murder. But does that make him any better? All he can do is try to make a good decision in each case.
If the machine pulls up the name of a cat, she’s probably not the victim.
I’ve had people tell me I’m a good person, and it always makes me a little nervous. A good person involves your whole life. At some point, we all make a bad decision. (Most of us downscale from murder, thank goodness.) When I hit that moment, do I stop being a good person? I think I prefer being a human, trying to make good decisions.
Kimberly’s greatest blessing is people who will still love her, even when she makes bad decisions.
Being enshrined as a “good person” is a lot to live up to! Suddenly your identity hinges on holding on to that status. But why? Of course we *want* to be good, and we don’t want to disappoint others… But it can become an impossible standard and put a lot of stress on us. We must be able to forgive ourselves for honest mistakes. So long as we do our best every day–that’s all anyone can really ask of us. It’s all God asks for, and if others are asking for more, then they need to step off.
I think you’re awesome (not the same as good) and I’ll be there through good decisions and bad. Nice piece.