The Modern Day Virtuous Person

I’ve always wanted to be a good person. But in a world where morality is so open to interpretation, sometimes it has proven difficult to make the ‘right’ decisions. Doing the right thing more than often not, will be intuitive. But sometimes intuition comes in conflict with the things we were taught. This post is a way for us to build a moral compass that works to create the most balance within and the world as possible.

There aren’t too many great role models in the world today and therefore, those that emanate virtue in the purest form stand out. Throughout history, figures such as Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius were virtuous men that became symbols of morality that are still followed today. But you don’t have to be a religious/moral authoritative figure to be a symbol of good in the world. We have modern day staples of virtue such as Darryl Davis, Fred Rogers, Bob Ross and Keanu Reeves. It’s a bit funny that I mention Keanu but the internet has an obsession with how good he carries himself in public and it is because his humbleness and endearing spirit despite his fame sets a positive example to how we should treat one another.

Me and Dreamweaver several years ago were fanboying over how Fred Rogers (AKA Mr. Rogers) carried himself throughout his life. He set an example of how we would like to carry ourselves in the world. So often, we would ask ourselves ‘what would Mr. Rogers do in this situation?’ I came to learn that Mr. Rogers would do the same thing by asking himself ‘what would Jesus do?’ And Jesus acted out of unconditional love which is the essential moral compass of the universe.

But Mr. Rogers wouldn’t bring up Jesus/God or anything of the sort. He would do good for goodness sake. He became a beacon of light in the lives of millions of children throughout his career.

To be good in this world is to be a beacon of light in a world overwhelmed by darkness. You serve as an example of what a good person is to those around you. You are trusted, depended on and loved for who you are. And some may hate you still but they don’t phase you because their hate can’t penetrate the light you emanate. To be good is to serve yourself and mankind. It allows for the most growth, balance and peace in one’s life and those surrounding him or her.

I am writing this not to tell you all how to live but as a guideline you can follow if you’d like to be this way. I am not perfect and drift from this beingness sometimes. I am working on being this way as is my partner Dream. Sometimes, I forget and having these guidelines written will help refresh my memory if I ever get lost along the way. And I’m sharing this in this post so that if any of you have any suggestions for morals that can be added to this list, then please do share. Because truly, this is for all of us.

Kindness – To be kind is to treat people with respect, compassion and love. Quite simply, the way you would like to be treated. There is a certain kind of warmth that comes from kindness. One of, you are my brother, or sister, you are family. I love you even if I don’t know you because in spirit, we are connected like the vines from a tree.

And rather importantly, be kind to yourself. You are your greatest friend. How can you be kind to others if you aren’t kind to yourself?

Compassion – Understand that people come from different backgrounds and have been walking a certain path their whole lives when they came across yours. Sometimes, they don’t choose the paths they walk or things they believe and even if they did have some control over this, it is what has made most sense from their worldview up to this point. If you were to walk in their shoes, you’d see things from their perspective too.

So with this understanding, you can empathize with anyone. Even serial killers driven to madness by their past or innate desires similar to unplanned fetishes that invade the mind like a virus. Compassion is to let go of your prejudices and see the world from another person’s point of view. In this way, you can communicate and connect with anyone. You can let go and forgive people. You can make peace with the world.

Ego – Humanity is governed by ego. The voice in our heads governing our desires, actions, beliefs, fears, dislikes and likes… reassuring we remain the same and not think outside the box we create for our selves. The inability to think outside the boxes make most of us unable to empathize with many others and change our point of view. It also makes many of us unable to live in the present moment as we worry about a future that doesn’t exist and feel sorrow for a past reduced to thoughts.

I bring ego up because it is an element of humanity that is important to remember when encountering ignorance, hatred and other things that would trigger a defiance in you. Just as their egos are acting out of their own confined box, your ego will react as well. Quite easily, your ego can be taken aback as your pride, beliefs or world view gets threatened until you descend to another person’s level and forget what being virtuous means.

You’ll forget compassion, kindness, love in such moments. To be virtuous, you must learn to catch on to your ego. Recognize these thoughts are the result of years of conditioning and they do not represent reality. To be the better person is to act against such thoughts and then do and say the right thing anyways. Let love and your willpower be stronger than your ego and such virtues will become your ego’s new conditioning.

Open Mindedness – What we know is a drop in the ocean. In a universe that seems to expand infinitely, it is rather ludicrous to believe we have things figured out. When you begin to think in absolutes, you close your mind to many of the possibilities out there and create restrictions for your mind. In turn, you disable your ability to see from other people’s perspectives and limit the growth of your understanding on many levels.

Open mindedness means to be open to the idea that you may wrong. You don’t have it all figured out. What you know is a probability of truth and that you are open to learning more and perhaps changing your views down the road. This flexibility allows your mind to explore infinity; embracing a freedom of thought that is blissful. It is this open mindedness that allows you hear out people that you may disagree with and engage in enlightening discussions. It allows you to respect anyone’s truth rather than judging it automatically. It allows you to connect with anyone and be neutral in a world of so many contradictions.

People may see black and white but you learn to see the grey. You see the yin and yang as one and therefore, the bigger picture. Non duality is peace and balance. When you learn to see the world in this way, you learn to avoid conflict and make peace instead.

Humble – To be humble is to act without pride. Modesty is respectful and puts others on equal standing with you, no matter your social status in comparison to theirs. Your income, intelligence, talents, looks and so on should not make you feel like you are better or worse than anyone else. The way you carry yourself is what leaves an impression on everyone’s minds more than such titles. Treat everyone with equal respect, love and compassion and the world will return the favor. And if it doesn’t, it’s all right because wherever you go, you’ll leave an impression of goodness and someday, some of the people you’ve touched will be inspired.

Positive – To be positive is to radiate positivity through your thoughts, words and actions. Instead of judging others, show love and understanding. Instead of drowning in a negative pool of thoughts, see a situation as a lesson that you can learn from to forge a better future. Instead of expressing negativity in any form, spread love and cheer.

It is easy to be cynical in a world like ours but the future is not written in stone. And even if current situations may not seem so well, it is all a matter of perspective. You can always choose to view the world in a more positive light. Optimism might seem idealistic but it is a way of keeping your mind positive so that you can attract more positivity in your life. Wallowing in negative states of mind drags you and the others around you down. Cruising in positive states of being lift you and the others around you. You are more capable of helping yourself and others from a positive state of being.

Honesty – In order to be honest with others, you must be honest with yourself. Who are you and what do you believe? Express your true self. Speak your truth. One must only speak through their heart to do so. To be honest, is to say what you feel and express who you are within. Not the masks we wear in order to hide ourselves in fear of what others may think of us. If you believe others won’t accept you, then you may not accept you. If you accept yourself, it won’t matter if others do or not. There are other people out there that will accept and embrace you and you will find them if you express yourself truthfully.

And so in this way, you can truly be honest with people. And they will be more likely to be honest with you. And speak their truth. To freely express yourself in this way lowers another’s guard down to the extent that they feel they can be real with you too. We all wear masks when communicating with people. To be real is to let go of them.

But be intuitive about this. If your truth is still in a negative place and you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say it. If honesty means putting people down, then you might as well still wear your mask.

And sometimes when dealing with people who are expressing their problems to you, they may just want your ears. Listen with full focus and return love and compassion. That is sometimes all they needed in that moment rather than your advice.

Navigating complicated or hostile interactions can be difficult but the first step is to be accepting. By accepting, you stop the mental need to dominate or force your point of view onto someone else. From this point of acceptance you can provide the attention and care a person may need.

There is a secret approach to happiness that has become a meme even. The secret to happiness is to not argue with fools. Every person will keep trying to push their point of view at each others, getting nowhere and leading to massive arguments. Why not say instead, ‘I accept that these are your ideas and beliefs, thank you for sharing them with me’. So be sincere and let your benevolent intentions guide your interactions.

Love – Love is essence of it all. All these virtues come natural to the person that acts out of love. To love, is to unite with your being and the world. Unity is peace and balance. And so love is the essence of goodness. In love, you know what is the right thing to do as that thing can bring the most balance. And so, how does one act out of love?

Learn to love yourself. Learn to love the world. For you and the world are not separate. You and ‘it’ are one. When you are able to see the world as a reflection of you and you as a reflection of the world, you understand that you are already unified with it. Love binds you to it and it to you. So, love.

Feel gratitude and appreciation for yourself and the people around you. Feel empathy for those who are lost for they are you as well in essence. Be generous to others as your generosity can uplift anyone from the dumps and inspire them to grow. Love is a state of being. It is to unconditionally accept yourself and the world around you and embrace it. In this embrace, you spread light and love everywhere you go.

Of course, this is easier said than done. There are situations where you will be met with hatred and vitriol. Sometimes, to act with love is to know when to walk away from a situation. Sometimes it is to defend yourself. There is an intuition that comes from it that you serves as a compass that is just about always right.

Conclusion

Even if you don’t believe we are all one, we are connected in the sense we breathe the same air. We are all part of this tiny planet that is one the billions out there. We are earthlings and we should take care of ourselves and our planet. This is more likely if we get along and help each other grow rather than always be at odds with each other. It can even be a selfish thing if you’d like as being more loving and peaceful to other others will create more peace and abundance in you.

The whole message here is to be the bigger and better person. Inspire change in the world around you by being the change. If this strikes home to at least just one of you, then I’ll be more than happy. Thank you for reading!