Do you prefer to remember people for the good they did or the bad?

[The Straight Story]

Fromm Ghandi to MLK, from JFK to Mother Theresa. We can find fault in everyone (based on our own moral code...).

The question is, does the good eclipse the bad? And which would you rather focus on?

Sure - we may want people to know that their 'hero' is not perfect, but then how willing are we to show ourselves in the same light?

I have tried in my life to do well by others, but I damned far from perfect :) And when I die, will I too be remembered for the few negative things or will I be recalled for that which helped others in this world?

I get it. We all suck at some times in life. Even the people we respect. THAT is part of human nature. But why celebrate the negative instead of the positive??

The ONLY real good reason I can think of is: To show that the negative is really not all that bad, because someone can be 'bad' and still do an immense amount of good for so many others.

So yeah, there is negative in us all, there are things we did that might shock you, but the end result was of a good person is that they did more good than bad. And I for one want to try and celebrate that (though I often fail at times I admit....).

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

1. Peace be with you all.

Remember the dream. Live the dream. Be the dream.

[Kutjara]

2. Most of us won't be remembered at all...

...after a generation or two. My grandparents died before I was born, so I have very little idea what kind of people they were, and have only seen a couple of faded black and white photos of them. Any children I have will know even less than that.

All that will be known about us is what's written on our tombstones or in a book of remembrance. Since those words tend to be anodyne and cliched, no real information about our lives will be transmitted to the future.

People like MLK, Gandhi and, at the other extreme, Hitler and Stalin are remembered for their larger-than-life impact on the world. Over time, however, they become caricatures or symbols more than real people. Their names are used as synonyms for some archetypal behavior or other. Few people read their biographies, so what we know of these individuals is derived from pop culture and half-remembered school lessons. Since myth says far more about the teller and their preoccupations than it does about the putative subject of the story, even major historical figures become detached from the reality of their lives. Did george Washington cut down a cherry tree? Was Genghis Khan a psychopath? Was Abe as honest as everyone says? Was King George really mad?

In the end, then, we are all forgotten. Some of us may have our names hijacked and added to the "human story," but most of us are fated to be no more than names written in fading lettering on a stone.

[MoseyWalker]

3. I actually made a personal choice

when young (many years ago) that I wasn't going to think like or react to things as all the rest of my siblings and family members did.

Some of us came out ok, though somewhat "damaged", but -even being the person that I have become and dealing with the things I have dealt with - I give myself the personal family medal for having told myself when young that I would have to make choices, and I made the right ones; for the most part.

We, all of us, want to look at others and see the good; whether it is apparent in any way, or not. Sometimes we can pull out of our butts some good that appears to be in others even though they may be OCD or stupid, or both.

It is rare that good can be seen so easily.

MLK Jr.

Good.

For so many.

peace.