On Good Deeds and Success
Image by Quasifly via Flickr A situation happened recently that has made my heart break. Out of nowhere, it seems, I learned that someone bore false witness against me. After sitting with what was said about me for a few days, I have come to realize that the next two Paradoxical Commandments speak directly to this situation. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. How many times have you heard about someone who has done something good for others, only to have someone else say, "Ya, well, I heard that person did such and such awful thing," effectively killing the positive energy of the good deed? Or, have you ever heard of someone succeeding, for instance, getting a new position in work, only to hear coworkers, people that, to this person's face, are all smiles and congratulations, whispering about how the person who got the new posi...