This I Believe: Good People

 

            A good person is someone who puts other people’s interests in front of theirs. I believe in good people. I believe that every human being is naturally capable of being good people. A philosophy and ethic that I am developing in my early stages of life is to observe and duplicate the actions that the good people I know have shown me.

 

I have a friend who I met in high school. I’ve met his mom and she is one of the

best people that I have ever met. Every single time I see her she smiles and, in a ridiculously happy voice that doesn’t sound fake, she says hello and then gives me a big hug. She walked by me one time while I was playing piano and she stopped in her tracks and smiled at me and said “Eric, that is without a doubt some of the best piano playing that I have ever heard in my life.” I know how to play piano but I am confident that she has heard better pianists than myself.

 

            I went down to Mexico a year ago to do service work with the poor. The leader of the organization that our group went down with was a good person who has done great things. In his life he aquired much wealth to the point wear he could have done anything he wanted but he decided to devote his entire life to these Mexicans who are living under mattresses in an old garbage dumb. He gets no monetary gain from this except knowing that he is being a good person.

 

            When I see people like this I am inspired to become a better person and also to become a “good guy”. To become a “good guy” is to become someone who inspires others to become better people. The old cliché “actions speak louder than words” has a lot of truth to me. I believe acts of love and kindness breach lines of religion, race, sex and any other barior that could prevent people from loving one another. In the large scheme of things I believe that for the world to become a better place I think it matters not whether you’re black or white, a bible or Quran reader, a prostitute or even the president. When people are shown love, it has the power to motivate them to become better people, and if we all try to become good people through our acts of kindness to others then a big chain will start until you have affected thousands.

 

It starts with me.