Bad People?

Consider a world where there are no bad people.  

Now imagine that is this world right now. 

This past week I experienced another perspective-shift. My challenge is to help you achieve the same thing, knowing that this is among the riskier blogs I’ve written. My angels are encouraging me to write and I’m having a little battle with them because as much as I know the “unsubscribes” that show up in my inbox don’t matter, they do sting a bit.  

OK – the perspective shift: Nobody on Earth thinks they are bad (evil, “the bad guy”). 

It doesn’t matter how terrible we think someone is because of how they act, choices they’ve made, beliefs they hold, or God forbid...how they vote! Every single person on earth thinks they’re “the good guy” (who occasionally screws up).  

I had a friend challenge me - “What about Hitler and Mussolini...or pedophiles?”  

And to that, I challenge -I don’t think they thought/think they are evil. 

How could this possibly be true? 

Our beliefs are based on our experiences, our culture, our upbringing, and our perspective and exactly zero per cent of the population has had the same experiences + culture + upbringing + perspective. Zero! Even among family members there are changing variables.  

Our unique perspectives mean that even if we make bad choices, or choices that harm others, there is a part of us that views that choice as the lesser of two evils.  

Humans aren’t programmed to be “bad”. We want to be “good”. 

It is true that some people are prone to blame others for everything: “Look what you made me do.” Their truth, though, is that they were taught power and authority were outside of themselves and they believe it.  

My spiritual journey has taught me two truths (my perspective and my belief, take it or leave it as you please); 1) We are all one. You. Me. Every blade of grass. Every bird. Every rock. We are ALL made of the same stardust, the same energetic matter. And, since we are all made of the same stuff, none of us is better than anyone or anything else. 2) We all have Free Will. Free Will is a Universal Law and so binding that even angels cannot assist or intervene in our lives except in cases to save us when it’s not yet our time to cross over. This means, ultimately, that we have power and control unless we give it away. Spending time blaming and complaining gives away our personal power to find solutions. 

Situations and interactions with people occur over our lifetime that we do not prefer, but that does not mean these people are inherently evil or that the situations are inherently bad. We are on this earth to learn lessons and to discover how to love more completely and unconditionally. These lessons don’t happen in a void – they need a catalyst. And as human beings we are all multi-faceted. There are people on this earth who think I’m fantastic: loving, giving, compassionate, and kind. There are people on this earth who would rather never see me again. They think I’m harsh, mean, judgmental, and have a short fuse. They are all right because I am and have been all the above at specific times in specific moments. It doesn’t make me good or evil. It makes me human.  

 When we remember that each one of us is functioning based on our perception of what we think to be truth, it makes more sense that each of us is acting/reacting/responding in ways aligned with that perception of truth. It’s only recently in my life that I have realized how much information is missing from the equation that helps us define what our truths are. This means that everybody is right and nobody is right. We are just all out here doing the best that we can with the knowledge we have. In some extreme cases, this has led to cruel dictatorship and pedophilia...and I don’t mean to sound flippant about it as these people have caused some of the absolute worst atrocities imaginable. It’s just I don’t think they think of themselves as bad people because of their perceived truth about the world. Furthermore, I think it’s possible that if enough of us recognize the goodness (the Christ light) within them (something they likely lacked in childhood) that perhaps their world view and then their actions would change.  

I know it’s a stretch – not a leap most are eager to take – but great things happen with new ideas. The world I want to live in is filled with love. People recognize their connection with one another and are happily willing to use their gifts to help each other thrive. This world operates on unconditional love. It only works, though, if everyone feels the unconditional love. This means that people who are hurting other people and the earth need to feel loved, not hated.  

If you are open to it, please join me in believing in the inherent goodness of others and loving them all. We will be two people closer to the world we want to live in.