Of being a Good Person, despite corona – the story of running into the philosophy of life

Of being a Good Person, despite corona – the story of running into the philosophy of life

I gave up on declaring any corona numbers as a milestone.  Every infection, every death, every affliction in whichever way, is already bad as it is.  We do not have to wait for some numbers to consider it a milestone.  We have corona milestones every second and it is a situation that we, as humanity, need to put a stop to soon.  There is no pride in any corona numbers, the very corona virus that causes SARS-COV2-2019 disease, also called COVID19 disease.

Look at today’s numbers* as an example.  140M global confirmed infections – 140,630,831 to be exact.  And these are the confirmed cases, meaning that a test was done to determine this status.  We all know that there are likely to be many more untested cases that can add to that number at any given time.  I would throw in a wild guess of 10% more (not very wild though, since positivity rates on any samples collected locally have tended to be in the 5-15% range upon random testing in any population).  That would mean 154M global infections!  The global confirmed deaths are 3M, or 3,014,739 to be exact.  My 10% topup puts that number at 3.3M.  It is that bad!  Our Kenyan numbers are 150,260 and 2,443 respectively, of course, add my 10% additional cases on both numbers that are not confirmed by tests.

Though these numbers are bad, we have hope as humanity, in the name of preventive measures, therapeutics, treatments and vaccines.  The first and last on that list are what can be of utmost help to humanity, so that we do not get infected in the first place or we be protected even before infection.  Vaccinations also reduce the adverse effects of the disease in case of an infection, generally meaning not getting a serious case that needs hospitalization.  Each intervention has its challenges, but we are on the road to recovery, despite the numbers.

The point of my story today is however different.  I do not want to glorify corona, but to encourage humanity to keep living to their fullest each and every day.  Living to your fullest also mean getting the best joy and happiness in everything that you do.  Being fulfilled and content.  Having a peace of mind.  Being a good person!  This is the challenging one.  What is even being ‘good’ all about?  Why even bother?  Who even determines who is good?  Or even who is bad for that matter!

I was pondering over this and realized that the judgment is probably two-fold.  How you judge yourself and how others judge you (and of course how you judge others).  In your own metrics, your own marking scheme – if you even have a marking scheme in the first place.  How do you rate yourself?  You are the candidate, and you are the interviewer at the same time.  How do you score?  How do you do on your scale of marks?  With the same (or different) marking scheme, how do you rate others?  And with the same (or different) scheme, how are others rating you?

These are weighty issues and quite complex.  To start with, you cannot dictate to others how they judge you.  You can also not dictate to others how you judge them – I told you it was complex.  Can you even dictate to yourself how you judge yourself?  Are you not too lenient or even too harsh?  You can really confirm your impartiality?  How about if you refuse to judge yourself, or if other refuse to be judged by you – or even you refuse to be judged by them!  I told you – it is a complex set of prepositions.

Anyway, assuming you know how to judge, and you have judged yourself and/or others (and be aware that they have judged you, rightly or wrongly), then there is the strife to be ‘good’.  To receive ‘good’ reviews.  Something positive to encourage and motivate you.  Being content with what you have and how you are.  For runners or athletes, the ‘good’ measures would mean you are happy with your athleticism and your routines.  You feel content.  You feel ‘good’.  Extend the same euphoria to your life – and get the same level of satisfaction and fulfillment.  That to me will be the ‘feel good’.

How about how others judge you?  Do they believe that you are ‘good’?  Remember that you do not have control over what they think about you.  You can only hope, if you even care in the first place.  Sometimes others will tell you as it is in the form of feedback.  They will tell you that are good or otherwise.  You can take their word for it as their judgment of you.  Let me not even go to the direction as to whether they are telling you the truth – just assume that you believe them.

Of course, the whole debate can have many ‘what ifs’.  That is why at some point you need to take a stand.  Decide on what you shall believe in.  Decide on your marking scheme and trust it.  Decide on your ethos and stick to them.  Decide on one stand, one conviction, one modus operandi – trust it, assume it is true, be convinced it is for you and live by it.  You could refer to some rule book, some established standards, some policies somewhere, your own gut feeling or a combination of some.  Judge yourself by it, mark yourself by it and trust yourself to judge yourself correctly, truthfully and impartially.  Take a stand and trust your stand – chances are, you are right in what you finally stand for.  That is you.  That is the ‘good’ you.

Finally, how people judge you is likely upto them.  You have little say, though you can have some influence.  You hope that they judge you upon is correct, truthful, and impartial, just like self-judgment.  For your self – have your stand, stick to what you believe.  For the others, let the external person judge you as they deem fit – rightly or wrongly.  If the external view is voiced, then you can have the opportunity to correct a misperception.  Whether the correction shall stick is another issue, but you would have had your say.  If it is not voiced, then it is a different story, one that you will just have to live with.

Oh, and talking about what others say about you… I once participated in a prayer.  The person leading the pray, in our group of five or so, asked for the divine intervention on how others judged him.

“Help me be a good father, that the children may judge me rightly”

Judgement is difficult, be it self-judgment, by others or to others.  Take a stand and believe in your stand.  If will just realize that you are a good person and others affirm the same.  The judgment metrics are already up there.

WWB, the Coach, April 17, 2021