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Which way are you headed?

I’m walking down the streets of Melbourne one day, and I see this 19-year old guy sitting slumped against the wall. As I pass by he looks at me and asks, “Hey, have you got some spare change?” I look at him, and note his dark eye bags. Although he is trying to look as miserable as possible, I could clearly see that this young man is still able-bodied and fit. If anything, I would say this guy has not been through enough suffering to warrant some spare change. His face – not a wrinkle; his clothes… are those designer labels I see? It makes you wonder… Why doesn’t this guy just get a job? Even being a supermarket cashier pays enough to rent a room, buy groceries, and some luxuries. Maybe he earns more just asking me for spare change?

That young man has given up hope. The thought that runs through his mind is, “It’s no use, what I do doesn’t make a difference. There’s nothing to look forward to. So why bother even trying?” If you ever catch yourself thinking like that, realize that you might be lost. And you’ve reached a point in life where you can choose to make it go uphill, or downhill. I believe if someone has two hands through which they can labour for their earnings then they should not lay slovenly to beg, but stand up and make something of themselves. For it’s only a matter of believing that you can.

To some people, life seems unfair. Like they’re struck with bad luck, and everyday is a torturous day to survive and drag themselves through. They act in reckless ways because they seek instant gratification – they want an escape from the pain of their reality. They want to get rich now, so they gamble and then lose it all. They want to forget their worries, so they drink, get drunk, and get nowhere. They need a high, so they inject drugs, buy sex, and commit crimes, which lead to addiction, HIV, and imprisonment. So you can be broke, you can be drunk; you can lose your sanity, your health, and your freedom. All you have to do is make the choice. And how can you tell the difference between a good choice and a bad choice, especially when bad choices can seem so tempting and ‘filled with goodness’?

In life, good and evil are contrasts created by our conscious judgment. Depending on which perspective you’re looking from, the boundaries between what is good and what is evil will blur. One country gladly sends its soldiers to war, ‘for the good of the nation’. But you witness the death, destruction, and suffering… and you can see the evil this ‘good’ causes. Ask a pimp, and he will tell you his work is an art form, passed from generation to generation. The women are happy to earn, and the men are happy customers. He argues that he is just supplying what the market demands. It’s what people will do naturally because it is human nature. And if abstinence were such a desired quality, then why were we made the way we are? Plus some of his workers need to support families and children back home, and are only doing this because society has not given them a better way to earn as much money. So in his eyes, he probably sees his business as benefiting the general community.

What we label as right and wrong; good or bad depends on which side of the coin you’re looking from. Which environment are you in? Whose side are you naturally forced to take because you are a part of that community – e.g. the US or Iraq; police or pimp? Even attackers think they’re attacking to defend the world from a greater evil. What we need to be aware of is that our point of view is strongly influenced by where we are brought up, our nationalistic loyalties, and the messages we receive. In some countries, sex is everywhere; in others, the place is so reserved, it is taboo to even mention the word. But in both cases the people living in either country will think that their way is the best way. People living in a sex-laden free society, will think that the clean country is stuck up. While people living in the clean society, will think the other is culturally infected and morally confused.

We would do better to make judgments based on independent observation rather than regurgitating what we are culturally or religiously programmed to think. The secret to making positive choices is in knowing what’s good and bad for you. Not what’s right and wrong in the world, but what affects you positively or negatively over the long term. Will your choice help you to become the person you want to be? Or will it take you further away from that? You know yourself best; you know your strengths and your weaknesses. We can judge our actions by their results; our choices by their consequences. Therefore always think through to the end result – the ultimate outcome when you make a decision. It’s easy to get lost in impulse when you lack the self-control to say, “Wait… where will this path lead me?” Neither path is good nor bad… they just lead you to different places. Some people can enjoy heaven; others need hell to be satisfied.

You have a choice. A choice to choose the path you will walk through life. Choose the Dark Path, and you end up on the dark side (for all you Star Wars fans). Choose the Light Path – the path of self-control, discipline, and delayed gratification – and you end up on the light side. Neither is good nor bad because there are happy people on both sides. What’s important is that you become sure of where you want to go and make the correct decisions to get there.

Two elderly women are sitting in front of me on a tram. They look perfectly normal; in good health. Suddenly one of the two asks me in a slow deliberate tone, “Excuse me, might you have 45 cents? We would like to buy a ticket.” Everyone in the tram turns to look at them, some disapproving faces were obvious. Fearing it might be a con, I replied, “You don’t have 45 cents?” She looked at me straightforwardly and admitted, “No….” Sensing that she’s telling the truth, I pull out my wallet and hand her the coins. She and her partner pass the coins between themselves first, and then true to their word, she gets up and buys a ticket. Now why would I give money to two old women, but not to one young man? Well… might I have given the coins to the young man, he would probably combine it with the rest of his stash and use it to get himself drunk or high on some weed. In this case, I am making a conscious choice to promote that which I feel is good in the world, and saying no to that which I judge to be bad. You have that same choice. Use it wisely.