The Sweetest Revenge
A STORY:
There was once an American farmer and a Russian farmer, both living in their respective countries. The American was out plowing his field when he saw his neighbor driving past in a brand-new Cadillac. The American farmer looked at his rusty, old pickup, then at his neighbor’s shiny, new car, and vowed, “Someday I’m going to have a shiny, new car just like his.”
Meanwhile the Russian farmer was plowing his field and saw his neighbor driving by in the fancy luxury car. He looked at his rusty, old pickup, then at his neighbor’s Cadillac, and vowed, “Someday he’s going to have a rusty, old pickup just like mine.”
Interesting philosophy?
The Russian farmer isn’t going to be any better off himself just because his neighbor loses his nice car. The instinct for revenge is strong. But in the end it doesn’t do a person much good.
THE BEST REVENGE IS LIVING WELL.
The greatest revenge is thriving. Getting back at someone for their wrongdoings at your expense is not revenge. You will, in no way, benefit. Revenge is achieved by looking within oneself and realizing that “I have the power” and really using that energy to reach all sorts of heights.
Think back to a time when you felt hurt. Cheated. Neglected. Insecure.
What was the first thing that came to mind? BLAME. It is completely natural to place blame on other people, situations, atmosphere, time, and especially family, yourself, or the way you were raised.
We all do it. But that doesn’t make it right.
We look at our lives and we think back, to all the things we did, that may or may not have been right. And think how our lives might be better if…
Not only does G-d have huge plans for us. That is true. But He also gave us the tools to make our own decisions and bring ourselves to the potential that He has in store for us. There is no one to blame for not performing our best. It is every individual's duty. Our mission.
Specifically, I am thinking about pain brought upon by another. That other person may justify what he has done to hurt you… And just as he justifies his evil doing, you need not berate yourself for your past evil doing (as long as you know that it was wrong, and that there will be no repeats).
But if you feel anger or hurt due to what another person has done to you – By hurting them back, you only hurt the other person. YOU do not become a better person from it.
Rather, and I speak to myself here, you must rise above it all. Don’t live at the low rungs they lower you to. Live life on the highest rung you can reach at this point in life. The ladder is endless – it reaches into the clouds, up into eternity. There is life to be lived. THRIVE!
THAT will be the sweetest revenge of all.
posted by yoniQua at 11:27 PM
3 Comments:
soooo true.
although i agree that most of the time the best idea is to rise above revenge, sometimes i beg to differ. sometimes things happen to us, things are done to us that need a follow up. take the movie anger management, one of the focal points in the movie is when adam sandler has to face his childhood bully. it turns not into a question of revenge but a question of mental health. in order to move on sometimes we have to confront our past or people that have done terrible things to us and have us say. sometimes we need to find our voice and show people, they can't hurt us anymore.
anon1 - i know ur a lod girl. its cool to put ur name or at least something... right here, we are all safe! this is a safe environment (not!)
anon2 - i did not address the issue of voicing our hurt. yes, as a kid, i was taught to speak about what is upsetting me, tell the person why i feel hurt, and that they may not do it again.. yadayada. i still do it. When i (oy G-d forbid!) am hurt by how someone treated me or even another person, I will let them know exactly how i feel about it. but im very open like that.
what im talking about here is not letting things take their toll on you. on a global scale, when our enemies try to take us down, we must not show them our weaknesses, we must surpass their expectations of our fulfillment of life. quality of life is however great u make of it. on a smaller, personal scale, when someone tries to hurt you, the worst is to show weakness. rather, laugh it off, show them that they dont affect you, and walk off. walk with ur head held high (not too high) and show them that u are proud of who u are.
We all have power.
the power to choose.
we must choose life over anything else. vitality of life.
let us live as best we can, in all ways spiritual especially, so that we may reach our potential that G-d set for us, and not steep to the fate determined by our oppressors!
L'chaim.
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