6/12/13

The power of wrong

I don’t believe that actions in life can be classified under "right" or "wrong " .
People do what they do because they have tuned themselves into whatever they are at the point of time they perform the action.
I am not  the best person to be involved in a lot of  people related interactions .(Honestly , I prefer the emotional sanity that animals have to offer ! ) Nevertheless , when I live life , I have to perform my activities with the interaction of homo sapiens - sometimes it can be really really trying .

With this article , I only try to bring out one of such exasperating experiences .
When I do something "wrong" - the sequence of events happening after the recognition of considered-wrong - action are extremely powerful .

I once saw a beautiful ted talk where the orator was asking this question to the audience " what did it feel when you did something wrong ?"
Everyone came up with answers like "guilt , regret , salvation .." .
He brushed aside all of them and said "You only talk about what you felt AFTER you performed the action . What about DURING the action ? When you were DOING something wrong , IT FELT RIGHT !!"

This is really a mind shattering thought . I mean , really , think about it . All the wrong in the world that you did - did you really feel you were doing "wrong" while you were doing it ?
If we establish this as the base , can we really justify the amount of suffering we have undergone after being brought to notice that we were wrong ?

There is something wrong with the way we have been brought to deal with wrong doers . When someone has done something wrong ,  it gives us an immense sense of power over them .
He did something wrong to me - therefore it gives me the right to deal with him however I want . I am "allowed" to lose my head about it and humiliate him . I am "allowed"  to be rude to him . I am "allowed" to deny him the basic human dignities !
Really , should we be this way ? Sometimes it even comes down to " let me wait for him to do something wrong , point it out to him , and then bask in the glory of his guilt ." Oh , and how can I miss this ? It is obviously my birth right to keep taunting about this to him till eternity !

The most obvious fact we miss is this - the "wrong" is an act of the past . It may have influenced your present , BUT from this point onwards you can be the change to influence the future . Yes , someone screwed up things . But the prio1 for you is to do the damage control and only then talk to the person to see what you can do to work it out and prevent a screw up in the future .
Don’t hold a gun against someones head for one act of wrong she committed - it is not humane . Let her breathe , and not cover herself in a blanket of self loathing and guilt.
And if she does the same "wrong" over and over again , even if you repeatedly try to make things fine . Well , then it sucks . Its just a matter of you gauging your threshold and the importance you give to the person in your life .  There is no point in entering the same loop of self pity over and over again .. Either stay away from the person , or learn to not be bothered .

All of the above for the person empowered by being at the receiving end of the wrongful  act . For those at the committing end of the wrongful act - till soceity grows up , you will be reminded of the "sin" you committed every step of the way . It really sucks - but here is one pointer that I find helpful .
"People" are not really "people" - they are simply the sum total of their experiences . If they behave in some undesirable fashion , it is simply because the extrapolation of their  experiences tells them to do so . Don’t take them too seriously - they are not yet tuned to accept this new experience .


Well , the whole motto of everything is - wrong or right - hoping that someone suffers is never justified . And undergoing suffering yourself is pointless . Minimize any suffering under your control ,  and make the journey worthwhile  :)

1 comment: