I’m not a bad person.

[Anxieyote]

I have been observing myself and my actions lately, and what I notice is that I go out of my way to make sure I don't make anyone upset. I'm gentle and patient with people. I try not to make anyone feel left out in conversations, because I know the pain of being left out and how it makes me feel.

The reason I wanted to point these things out is because I often beat myself up and say terrible things about myself. But there is a part of me that admires my resilience, and unwillingness to lose the characteristics I have that make me who I am; even when they aren't always advantageous to me (some have told me I am naive and too idealistic).

I never give myself credit, but I would like to today as a confidence-boosting activity. I want to acknowledge and take note of some of the good qualities I have.

 

[Graham]

It's good to sit down and think of your good traits and good thing's you've done

I'm guessing most of us spend a lot of time doing the exact opposite

 

[timf]

Being realistic is a healthy position. If we think too much of ourselves, we can neglect to work on fixing things that need improvement. If we think too low of ourselves, we can lose hope.

 

[whatevs]

From the little I saw of you in the forum what you wrote rings true. You probably are 'a good person'.

Though to be completely honest I´ve long since decided that I care more about finding peace and purpose in life than fitting into a moralistic mold or another. A 'bad person' that has actual values and goals outside of self-gratification or animal instinct (reproduction, survival) can be seen a admirable from a different perspective. Thanos and the like. I haven´t even watched the movies but it´s a useful meme for this.

In other words, if I have decided that society is going against the things I like the most about myself, why should I conform and try to be a good person in their eyes? They don´t even are 'good' in MY eyes.

You´re welcome for the free tour inside the mind of a supervillain.

 

[Anxieyote]

From the little I saw of you in the forum what you wrote rings true. You probably are 'a good person'.

Though to be completely honest I´ve long since decided that I care more about finding peace and purpose in life than fitting into a moralistic mold or another. A 'bad person' that has actual values and goals outside of self-gratification or animal instinct (reproduction, survival) can be seen a admirable from a different perspective. Thanos and the like. I haven´t even watched the movies but it´s a useful meme for this.

In other words, if I have decided that society is going against the things I like the most about myself, why should I conform and try to be a good person in their eyes? They don´t even are 'good' in MY eyes.

You´re welcome for the free tour inside the mind of a supervillain.

This is true as well. There are political dissidents fighting for things I don't personally want or believe in, but I admire their tenacity, and their willingness to put themselves in a position where they are knowingly going to receive a lot of hate.

Maybe those people aren't "good" from a prescriptive moral perspective, but adhering to society's agreed-upon moral standards isn't always going to be beneficial in terms of achieving one's personal goals; or affecting broader societal change.

"Goodness" can also be seen as compliance too. A boss might say, "You are such a good worker" to one of their employees, because everything they are doing falls within company standards. In turn, a "bad worker" who neglects to do their required tasks and occasionally steals money from the cash register at night, is probably making more money than the "good worker" is; and sparing themselves from the responsibilities and stressors that the "good worker" has taken upon themselves.