Virtues are characteristics or attributes that are accepted by society and are considered morally good. Not only do virtues guide the way we live our lives, but they also help us become better versions of ourselves. Kindness, patience, honesty, gratitude, integrity, and courage are some of the examples of virtues. Have you ever been compared with another person? For example, has your teacher or parent ever compared you with another child? They say something along these lines: “Can't you just be like Daniel, he shows gratitude every time someone helps him,” “Can't you just be like your class captain, he's the most honest person I've ever seen?” This shows that virtues are good and miserable characteristics that we should adopt. Personally, I think it is really not fair to compare your kids or students with others, but I guess they were just trying to pass their message across: the importance of virtues.
Virtue is a gift from our creator. To have the sport of kindness, you have to sacrifice a lot of things. The same goes for integrity, patience, gratitude, and all other ones. Some people are blessed with so many values but still fail in some areas. Why? This is because, sometimes, it is difficult to keep up with so many virtues. Also, they fail when they start to go astray.
What is the one virtue you believe everyone must have? If you were given the opportunity to choose one virtue, which one would you go for? Or if you were given the opportunity to swap the virtue you possess with another, would you do it? If yes, which one would you go for? As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to virtues there’s a wild range to consider. Each virtue brings different advantages to our lives. If I were to choose one that stands out, it would be empathy. I agree that all virtues are important, but this one just stands out for me. I personally believe that empathy is a “must have” for every human.
Empathy is when you understand how your fellow human beings feel. Empathy is when you understand and share the feelings of others. It is when you can comfortably put yourself in someone's shoes, understand their suffering, and instantly see yourself in that position. When you have the virtue of empathy, you wouldn't want to see your fellow human beings suffer. It is really disheartening that most people today lack the virtue of empathy. I see the way humans treat their fellow humans and I go: Bro! How! How can you possibly do this to your fellow human being? Like, how can you possibly do this? I would never do such a thing.
Yesterday, in the Neoxian City, the City Gamemaster entertained us with a game: conspiracy theories. We talked about conspiracy theories that we've heard- the ones we agree with and the ones we do not believe. When it was my turn to share a conspiracy theory, I talked about Covid-19. 2020 was one of the worst years ever for the world. A lot of lives were lost. In my words, I said “Okay, there's a conspiracy theory that I heard that Covid-19 was staged by an organization to decrease the world's population. Personally, I find it hard to believe because it's difficult to imagine anyone being so heartless. That disease claimed lots of lives!” Some of my friends said it is indeed not a conspiracy theory but the truth. I still find it hard to believe that people would do such a thing just to decrease the world’s population. Like, why? Do you know the number of people that lost their lives? They left their kids, wives, pets, and everything else in this cruel world. People that didn't lose their lives, lost their jobs. So many people died as a result of starvation. If those people had the virtue of empathy, they'd never do such a thing. They'd never even think of developing that virus in the first place.
The world could really use more random acts of kindness. I honestly think the world would be a better place if everyone had the virtue of empathy. We keep hearing different stories of human trafficking. Recently, I heard that a catholic priest got kidnapped and the kidnappers are asking for a huge amount of money. They kidnapped this priest without even thinking of the physiological damage it would have on his family and friends. They did even think of the trauma it might bring on him if they eventually released him. I keep reading the news and hearing stories of youths who use their friends or partners for money rituals. The recent one I heard was about a university student who killed his girlfriend and her dad for a money ritual. His plan was to use his girlfriend, but when her dad found out, he killed him so he would not report to the police. Like, how would even manage to kill a human being? I find it hard to kill a chicken.
Instead of spending money lavishly- doing frivolous things and buying irrelevant and expensive things the least you could do is help those who are suffering. There are thousands of people on the streets, suffering and dying slowly. The world is messed up already, the least you can do is to understand the feelings of your fellow human beings.
ALL IMAGES IN THIS POST ARE MINE!
Thanks for reading.