What Makes You a Good Person ?

Blessed said:
Just basic kindness, respect, say please and thank you. No judgement, we are all equal regardless of age, wealth, color, body size, sexual preference or those that are different in anyway. Just like your Momma told you "If you don't have something nice to say, dont say anything at all."

Respect and help your elders. Kind of funny now that I am an elder but I will help others my age or older. I hold doors open, I fetch things at the store that are out of reach. I am very aware of those that are handicapped, not intrusive, but if I see someone struggling, I offer to help. I also think it is important to acknowledge children or others that may have a mental handicap. An autistic child knows when you smile, say hello. Make them a part of the world they live in.

Lastly, if you encounter a homeless person, don't look down on them. You do not how their life has come to this point. I don't give money but I will buy food and drink if I encounter them outside a grocery. A premade sandwich and a bottle of pop can be a blessing to someone.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I give money to the needy regardless of what they do with it. I can see they are hurting so who am I to dictate what they do. They can live it up and feel something good for awhile ❤️.

Thanks for your message ☺️
 

Ruthanne said:
Thank you. I give money to the needy regardless of what they do with it. I can see they are hurting so who am I to dictate what they do. They can live it up and feel something good for awhile ❤️.

Thanks for your message ☺️
Click to expand...
Thanks Ruthanne, I don't give money because I do not want to pay for drug/alcohol problems. I just want no one to go without food or drink. There are also a lot of people that pretend to be homeless just to get money. The truth is they may drive a better car, live in a fine house all through the donations of people that believe that the person is suffering. I have met many that did not want food or drink, just cash. No, no thank you.
 
Okay, so we can agree to disagree? Cool. best to you!
 

timoc said:

What Makes You a Good Person ?​

Answer....

All the good people on here, because without you all, I'd be running around the street knocking on folks doors and hiding behind trees, laughing. 😊
Click to expand...
Hey, I've done that before, don't worry it was the times!
 
David777 said:
Great subject @Ruthanne , thanks. :)

The below is a good link on the subject of being a good person. For each term beyond the short snippets I added, the web page explains what each means with examples. Most of my adult life I've worked to generally be a good person but there have been times I failed badly, especially as a young adult, learned from those experiences, and was intent to change.

One quality I still feel somewhat lacking in, is that I realizing my brief finite, mortal, existence, tend to ignore much of the negativity in the world, hiding myself from its pain, while selfishly pursuing my own enjoyments. As the saying from my generation stated, "I tuned in and dropped out", from the mainstream society for which I still am somewhat attached.

I sometimes use the metaphor: In this immense world, I am like a small twig floating down the vast Mississippi River, unable to do much more than float along in the current, hoping to not get pulled under and stuck below, drowning in its murky, underwater depths.

One reason I still attend mass is most of those that attend church are good people, simple, trying to do the right thing. Although others can criticize a minor number of things their religion and church authorities stand for, or what some hijacking its power in a church's history did, such does not necessarily bare on its specific well meaning individuals. And I for one will not abandon them for shortcomings and faults of those that don't. Further in the case of Christianity I am committed to for the sake of my own eternal life, Jesus very clearly asked us to share that journey of community with others.

15 Qualities That Are At The Core Of Every 'Good' Person

1. Prudence
A good person is a prudent person. Prudence is the ability to determine whether or not a particular action is a good (or appropriate) idea at that specific point in time. It’s considered to be one of the four cardinal virtues, derived originally from Plato’s Republic.

2. Temperance
Although most people interpret temperance as being abstinence from something, what it actually means is moderation. Having temperance means finding the middle path, and balancing the self in the face of any situation. It encompasses self-discipline and self-awareness. After all, you have to know your own abilities as well as your own limits in order to find the moderate zone between them.

3. Courage
Good people often show courage. Courage isn’t the absence of fear, but rather the ability to take action even though you feel afraid. It is knowing that there is a difficult, potentially dangerous task ahead of you, but doing it because you know it needs to be done.

4. Compassion
Being compassionate isn’t just about understanding someone else’s pain. It’s also the desire to help alleviate it. One can look at a person and see that they’re suffering (sympathy) and then walk on by. But when we want to do what we can to help, then that’s compassion in action.

Ultimately, the basic element of compassion is kindness. We want to give of our own abilities to help another being who may be suffering. We can have compassion for people, animals, trees, rivers… anything that seems to be in distress that we can help to lessen.

5. Generosity
Generosity is a quality often associated with a good person. When we have a surplus of something, it’s important to share with others who have less. Even if we don’t have a surplus, it’s important to share with others.

6. Patience
This is one of the qualities that many admire, but it is also one of the most difficult to put into practice. It’s possible that this is because few of use are actually patient by nature.

7. Respect
Respect is undoubtedly a characteristic of a good person. When we talk about respect, we’re encompassing various aspects thereof. This includes respect for other people, self-respect, respect for life, for nature, etc. Tolerance, esteem, appreciation, and recognition are just a few aspects of respect that can come into play.

8. Tolerance
Tolerance means accepting that others may think, behave, or live differently than we are, without trying to change their ways to suit our own preferences. In simplest terms: live and let live. [David's "Let it Be"]

9. Integrity
A good person will act with integrity. Integrity means doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching. It’s holding to your individual moral and ethical convictions despite other people’s opinions and influences. Especially when it’s difficult to do so.

10. Commitment
This one goes along with integrity, but expands upon it differently. Commitment means that you’ve held to your word, even if it was difficult to do so.

11. Honesty
Honesty is often expressed as a quality of a good person. After all, if you discovered that someone lied to you, could you ever trust them again? If they lied to you that time, what would stop them from lying to you about everything and anything else?

12. Humility
You know the type of person who’s always bragging about how awesome they are? Humility is the opposite of that. Humility is holding to the idea that no person is greater or lesser than any others, despite popularity, wealth, titles, or achievements.

13. Strength
The strength that makes a good person is mental and emotional rather than physical. Strength can be shown in a gentle way, albeit one that is unyielding. Look at Mahatma Gandhi and his hunger strike. It took immense strength to quash his own hunger, though agonizing, in order to work toward positive change.

14. Love
There are many different types of love, despite the fact that only one word is used to encompass them in the Western world. We’re mostly familiar with romantic love, or the love felt between parents and children. But we can love humanity or nature with all our hearts as well. And we know that we love when we pour our energy toward other beings’ happiness, health, success, and freedom.

Some people mistake infatuation for love. Or possessiveness. Someone might love another person because they feel that the other person will give them what they need. Similarly, they might love a pet, or a house, or any other being or creature that brings them fulfillment. In contrast, when we truly love a person, our greatest wish is for their happiness.

15. Self-awareness
You know in your gut when you’ve done wrong, or when you have done good.
Click to expand...
This list.......yes.
 
I have never met anyone who was/is entirely good, or entirely bad. It is a little more complex than a quick label and call it a day. Aren't we all a mixture of of both "goodness" and "badness"? I think as we keep getting older we start to be be smarter about doing stuff that use to be stupid. Now we can't do it any more and give it this nice feeling of being better people. I'll just go with, as I get older I get gooder. :)
 
oldaunt said:
The Wiccan creed: Do no harm. Simplistic, but it does tend to cover most situations.
Click to expand...
Same as the doctors!

I try to live by Ian Maclaren's advice, "Be Kind for everyone is fighting a great battle."

I also try to live by the advice of Jesus to treat others as you would treat yourself, but sometimes what I would want is not what someone else would want. Jesus also wants me to forgive everyone who has ever hurt me and I have to try really hard to keep that one.

I don't know if I'm a good person, it depends on who I'm comparing myself to.
 
Last edited:
Doing good things is a great thing. I think how “good” we are is largely determined by our environment. If we are raised in a stable loving home and have good role models as parents, we find it much easier to be “good” and be helpful members of society. But if we are raised in a home filled with chaos and abuse, it is very difficult to break free of that and our natural sinful nature can take over.

At one of my in service days at the community college, two prison inmates convicted of imbezzlement described how they were slowly transformed from “good” family men to felons by the lure of easy money taken from a large company that could afford the loss and they talked of how they rationalized the increasingly larger thefts. Their warning to us was that this could happen to anyone. They never planned on becoming criminals. As stated in Psalm 14, “There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands” .

As a Christian, I believe we are all born into sin, but we do not all act on that sin In significant ways, at least not in public view. With my conversion to a Saving Faith in Christ (and not just religion), I was made a New Creation and I now have a helper (The Holy Spirit) to keep me on track.
 
Reality in this modern world, is there are significant numbers of people in this modern era in our Western societies that I'd rate rather poorly on most of the list I posted earlier. Especially with prudence, integrity, honesty, and self-awareness. And that makes living today a dangerous, and often sad place where one wisely ought not readily trust unknown others regardless of what they may nicely seem to be.

For example, significant numbers of people only wash their hands after using public restrooms if others are there to possibly watch them. Even though a trivial matter, it is often the tip of a selfish inconsiderate attitude that pervades such behaviors and opens susceptibility to dark secret inner mental worlds of evil.

1. Prudence
2. Temperance
3. Courage
4. Compassion
5. Generosity
6. Patience
7. Respect
8. Tolerance
9. Integrity
10. Commitment
11. Honesty
12. Humility
13. Strength
14. Love
15. Self-awareness
 
I get joy from helping others where I can do so such as stepped up to be the care person for my best friend after the attack on them from an illegal migrant resulting almost in their death but crippled for life and will never walk again from it.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top