Striving for the Best

I'm not gonna bash my church because I love it. I love the gospel principles and what I've been taught.

However, I will point out  behavior that is mean, unloving, unkind and wrong even when it's done by people within my church. I will call out anyone with bad behavior.  Yes, some people in my church have bad behavior. I will not look the other way and pretend they don't do wrong. If a person listens to my words,  even if they think they're mean (to me they're true,) perhaps they'll think she makes a point.  If my words cause them to change and become greater then what I said will have been helpful.

Perhaps it's true that the truth hurts. I can see that it hurts because it dents a person's ego. No one wants to be told they did something wrong. But, I wonder if people only want to hear good news. When should a person hear bad news? A wise person said that we can't be shaped without feeling a little heat. Perhaps the heat is the truth - and the truth can hurt. But, when a person changes for the better because of the truth, they benefit. 

Honesty and telling the truth, can hurt a person. But they can also help. Honesty and telling the truth are good things. Perhaps that's why "Thou shalt not lie" is one of the Ten Commandments.

When I'm dishonest I sacrifice my feelings to save another's. Unfortunately, I also hold them back. When I say nothing, my lack of words allows them to continue their bad behavior. The truth isn't brought into the light but swept under the rug. It's true that they get to choose to improve or not. At least my honesty takes me out of the picture and their choice is all on them.

I believe that people used to strive for the ideal and want to be their best selves. At some point, people stopped striving but instead ACTED like they still did. They became concerned with APPEARING to strive rather than striving. Others thought they did strive, but when they faced something that challenged them their true colors showed. 

Nowadays, it seems like a lot of people are their worst selves. They try to get away with things. They lie, cheat and steal. They are selfish. They think of their own welfare before that of someone else. They don't try to rise higher but want everyone to sink to where they are. 

If people have high ideals then people with low ideals make fun of them. The people with high ideals are labeled "goody-goody" and the people with low ideals think who do they think they are? The people with high ideals feel like they are swimming upstream and are a fish out of water. A lot of people with high ideals conform because they feel pressure from people with low ideals.

I believe that people with high ideals need to stand for what they believe. They also need to learn how not to hurt people's feelings. I think If they make a mistake, they need to repent (turn back to God) and ask God for forgiveness. If they hurt someone, if they try to right the wrong, that someone needs to forgive them and not hold their mistake over their head by bringing it up again or thinking less of them. 

I wish for people to have high ideals and strive to be their best selves.

Some people will disregard this post and think I'm being negative. It's not negative to point out the truth. I see the negative AND the positive - the good AND the bad. But I choose to be good. I choose the positive and happy because they give me a good feeling. I won't, however, ignorantly think the negative and bad don't exist. I won't sweep bad things away and pretend they don't happen because they do. I just won't participate in them.

Maybe some people wouldn't need to take Prozac if they just acknowledged the truth. They probably see the truth but numb their feelings because their family wouldn't like their honesty, or whatever. They should stand up against wrongness and choose to stand for the right. It will make them feel better and they won't be victims to dishonesty. If anything, at least other's will know they won't take part in sweeping the truth under the rug. They can do it. They are stronger than they think.

Everyone gets to choose how to behave. Some people choose to be mean. Some choose to be nice. Some choose to be mean but say they are nice - that is dishonest - they are really mean.

When someone doesn't say anything about a person's bad behavior because they never know when they will change, it doesn't help the person but leaves them out in the cold. That is not nice and is unloving. The loving thing to do would be to honestly tell the person about their bad behavior, have faith in them that they can change, and be their true friend.

The way a person reacts says something about THEM. I wonder, do they want to be loving and kind or mean and nasty?

I'll repeat what I said earlier. I wish for people to have high ideals and strive to be their best selves.