Rats, bats, and other reverse alliterations

I was doing something that one usually does around the Christmas season and I received the response, "You're a good person." In jest I responded, "I know."

Now, I'm not generally one who toots my own horn, but I will this time. By golly I am a good person and I know it. And why shouldn't I let other people know it too. Here is a bit of my reasoning.

Knowing what you are allows you to pursue the correct actions. If one doesn't know that one is a good person, then one will continually hinder oneself from becoming the best good person one can. Why put up a false screen of modesty (i.e. "oh, no. I'm not a good person. I'm just a person doing what I can.") when one could embrace one's goodness and just go for it. (i.e. "thanks for the compliment. I'm sure trying to be a good person. I'm glad to know it's working.") If one (okay, I'm done referring to a vague one. It really isn't a normal or accepted method of speech in our current language or social climate so I'll just use the more commonly accepted you.) If you continue to say, "Oh, no. I'm not a good person." then you can fall back on it when you make a mistake. But what we fail to take into account is the second part of the label: person.

If you are a person (and if you are not a person I hereby ban you from reading my blog), then you will make mistakes. More likely, you will screw up so terribly that something important to you or someone you care about will end in a poor way. This doesn't make you a bad person, but it does help prove you are a person.

Why not take the plunge and say, "I am a good person." Then you can start doing good things without any remorse (i.e. "I'm not a good person, but I'm doing something nice and good. But it's not too good. I don't want you to mistake me for one of those people. Please don't let anyone else know. Elaine Thomas (I don't really know any Elaine Thomas, so if she reads this then I'm sorry but it's a coincidence) down the street has been trying to pin that on me for months and she's looking for all the evidence she can. I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable. I'll try to tone it down a bit."). Who knows, maybe if we all accepted the fact that we can be good people we'd start doing it.

But I also don't mean this as an "everybody is good" thing. I mean it more as an "everybody can be good if they want to be" thing. Own up to it. And this holiday season start to accept the responsibilities of being good.

So, if you ever meet me and say, "You are a good person." Well, honestly I will probably respond with a common response like, "Oh, gosh. You're just saying that. I'm not really. I'm just a regular old guy." But on the inside I will be saying, "I know. Isn't it great. Let's be good persons together!"

Merry Christmas Eve