Mahtma Gandhi said it best…
“One cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in another.
Life is one indivisible whole.”
If you want to be the best version of yourself, you have to be the best you can be across all areas of your life. You can’t do great in some areas of your life and be bad in others. You CAN’T have joy in your life if you extinguish the light of good with the darkness of your acts. You have to be consistent across all areas of your life if you want true joy. Let’s look at a couple examples.
The Giver & The Taker
Let’s say you are The Giver. You go to church…you volunteer your time…you donate your money. You give what you have and want to do the best you can for everyone you can. Surely, this will make you happy. Donating your money and your time are definitely great things to do. But there is something you failed to mention…you are also The Taker. You find ways to hide money from Uncle Sam. You cheat on your taxes, you benefit from other’s mistakes. You may be thinking, “What’s wrong with that? Doesn’t Uncle Sam take enough? Is it my fault I found that wallet, and kept the money? I turned the wallet in…isn’t that enough???”
Gandhi is saying that you can’t give, give, give in one area of your life and take, take, take in another. It is sort of like erasing the good you are doing with something bad. This is NOT how we find joy and happiness in life. We MUST be consistent!!!
Mr. Two-Face
We all know this guy or gal. The one who is sweet and nice in public, but evil incarnate behind closed doors. No, I am not talking about the person who is stressed in their home life and putting on a brave face in public. We all have those moments where we lose it at home but then have to go out in public and smile like all is good. That happens, and is NOT what I am talking about.
I am talking about the person who consistently presents a friendly facade to the public world, but are unbearable at home. Even in public they smile at others while they are scolding you under their breath. This is NO way to find joy and happiness. You can’t be two different people successfully, and why would you want to be? Mr. Two-Face is clearly confused and has not found happiness in their life. Their values are wrong and who they are is divided.
Final Thoughts
I hear quotes all the time, but this one made me stop and think. It made me look at my life and ask, where am I doing “good” and where am I doing “bad”? What things do I do that are contradictory and how can I improve? If you want to find joy and happiness in your life, you have to be whole in life. You have to do the right things across all areas of your life if you want true joy. When you are doing all good, you can’t help but feel good.
As a 5and2Guy or Gal, I know you do good things in life and you want better. I challenge you to look at your life. Look for anything questionable you may be doing. Perhaps you are being a little dishonest some times? Maybe you are being a bit selfish when you shouldn’t? No one is judging you. We all have our challenges. I am just hoping to awaken a curiosity in you that says, “I want to be happy and if I need to remove anything bad I am doing in life, let me start today.”
Evaluate yourself…what you do and how you act. Find areas that are not consistent with who you want to be. If you want to find joy and happiness in your life, you need to do good things and be consistent across all areas of your life.
Remember that a life divided will never be whole!!!