Some people want revenge.
Some people want justice.
Some people want the last laugh.
But perhaps there is a better way.
Throughout life, I have encountered people who have lost their way.
People who have been hurt.
People who have become hardened.
People who believe that getting even is the answer.
Someone offends them.
Someone hurts them.
Someone treats them unfairly.
And immediately the desire for revenge appears.
The problem is that revenge often reproduces the very thing it claims to oppose.
Pain creates pain.
Anger creates anger.
Bitterness creates bitterness.
The cycle continues.
And nobody truly wins.
IT MAY FEEL GOOD…
FOR A MOMENT.
Getting even can feel satisfying in the moment.
But satisfaction and fulfillment are not the same thing.
One is temporary.
The other endures.
I take no pleasure in watching anyone suffer.
Not a man.
Not a woman.
Not a child.
Certainly there are times when we would like to see someone receive a lesson.
Perhaps even a correction.
But not to the point where their spirit is crushed.
Not to the point where their humanity is forgotten.
Life already contains a system of correction.
Actions have consequences.
Choices have outcomes.
Seeds eventually become harvests.
No one escapes that reality.
WHAT HAPPENS TO A PERSON ALONG THE WAY?
An innocent child enters this world full of possibility.
Then life begins.
Some are nurtured.
Some are wounded.
Some are guided.
Some are neglected.
Some become better because of what happens to them.
Others become bitter.
The same fire that hardens clay can also purify gold.
The difference often lies in what we choose to become.
As I wrote in Pearls for the Soul:
“Life will test your character. The question is whether the test refines you or defines you.”
— Richie Naggar, Pearls for the Soul
GETTING EVEN IS NOT VIRTUOUS.
Fear is not respect.
Control is not leadership.
Dominance is not greatness.
Punishing people so they fear you may produce temporary results.
But it rarely transforms hearts.
Only compassion can do that.
Only understanding can do that.
Only charity can reach the deeper places within another human being.
THE STONE HEART.
One of the saddest things I have observed is how pain can cause people to build walls around themselves.
Protective walls.
Defensive walls.
Walls designed to prevent further injury.
At first they seem useful.
But eventually something happens.
The walls become a prison.
No one can get in.
And the person trapped inside cannot get out.
Protection becomes isolation.
Safety becomes loneliness.
That was never the plan.
Human beings were not designed to live behind emotional fortresses.
We were designed to connect.
To share.
To love.
To heal.
NATURE OFFERS A LESSON.
If you watch nature carefully, you will often see dominance struggles.
The strongest animal claims territory.
Challenges arrive.
Battles follow.
The strong replace the weak.
Then eventually they themselves are replaced.
The cycle continues.
Human beings often imitate this process.
Money.
Power.
Status.
Influence.
Fame.
People climb mountains of success believing that the summit will finally satisfy them.
Sometimes they discover otherwise.
Because external success cannot silence an internal conscience.
A person may fool the world.
But eventually they must sit alone with themselves.
THE LIGHTER WAY.
Why not seek something better?
Why not seek what is true?
What is fair?
What is just?
What is honorable?
What is meaningful?
Why not build a life that requires no disguises?
No hidden compartments.
No secret burdens.
No unnecessary baggage.
The person who walks honestly sleeps peacefully.
The person who acts with integrity carries less weight.
The person who chooses compassion over revenge experiences a freedom that retaliation can never provide.
HAVING THE LAST LAUGH.
Many people think having the last laugh means winning.
I see it differently.
The greatest victory is not watching someone fall.
The greatest victory is helping someone rise.
The greatest victory is refusing to become what hurt you.
The greatest victory is keeping your heart soft in a hard world.
The greatest victory is remaining kind when bitterness would be easier.
That is strength.
That is character.
That is wisdom.
I do not laugh at the misfortune of others.
I want people to flourish.
I want people to heal.
I want people to find their way.
Because when another person rises…
We all rise a little with them.
And that is a victory worth celebrating.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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