Are You a Good Person?

[PlayboyMegan]

What, in your opinion, makes someone a good person?
Do you consider yourself to be a good person? Why?
If not, do you have any plans on changing that, or are you content with being a bad person?

 

[Shaun__]

I do not know what makes a person good. I help people, but it makes me feel good to do so. I am not doing it to just be doing it. I will do things that harm me, and help other people. The thing is I know I might feel guilty if I did not do the right thing. So once again I am doing something for myself.

I guess all things considered I might be neutral. Not good or bad. Just a person.

 

[SinSeraTea]

Everyone considers themselves a good person pretty universally. Some people consider themselves not good people when they are and way too many people consider themselves good people when they are anything but.

But the why of this is important. What makes me a good person.

I move through the world intent on uplifting the world around me as best I can.

For me, this means paying attention to how best to uplift the things/people/situations around me. I no longer believe that my way of solving things is going to be the best way for everyone involved.

I am one of the more accepting people who can be met on or off the internet. There is very little I judge other than people unable to see that their experience is not the only one.

 

[EssenceOfSimone]

I think this is a great post btw! It can really open peoples minds up to think about all the good they have done! As for me.....I would consider myself a good person. I say this because I try to see the good in people and take them for who they are! I try very hard not to be judgmental and tell another person what I think they should do different! I try and be there for people when they need it because I would want someone to do the same for me! One thing I do need to be careful of is being taken advantage of! I am a good person but battle with trying to be nice to everyone no matter how they treat me! I will not put a person down but if you are good to me then of course ill be good to you! I feel we are all good people but it is up for us to see it and act upon it! So lets live life and be happy and smile at one another because you never know if your smile could of made that persons day

 

[Nordling]

I remember when I was still in HS and read Ray Bradbury's novel, "Something Wicked This Way Comes." I remember the narrator, a kid, at one point saying something like, "It's so hard to be good."

He's right, for most of us. I have met people who seem to always respond to things in a "good" way, always looking for the best in people, and often defusing heated arguments between friends, but for most of us, "being a good person" is hard work...we try our best and hope we've done the right thing, but just when we feel confident, we hurt someone's feelings or say something really ugly. Being good, I think is a bit like being brave, which isn't about not being afraid but doing stuff anyway...and always trying.

Don't beat yourself up when you goof in life, just remember that it's a lesson and maybe you'll not do it that way again, or at least less often.

 

[Crumb]

I"m chaotic good.

and the whole good bad, is completely subjective

 

[SaffronBurke]

I'm an asshole and aware of it. Not sure if it's due to the way I was raised with no social interaction, or maybe a mental/psychological issue, but I have HUGE issues understanding the correct way to interact with people. I'm aware of this, and try to be nice about when someone points out when I do something fucked up. It takes a lot of effort to keep my behavior "acceptable" because it's so unnatural to me, but I try.

 

[KudosKids]

I really like this question .

I'm not sure there is a direct answer on what makes a person good. I think if you just try to be the very best you that you can, thats all anyone can really ask.

 

[Kunra9]

no

 

[PunkInDrublic]

sometimes

 

[TacoBelle]

I consider myself a good person. I try to see the good in every other person around me. An example: my boyfriend HATES letting cars pass him (in traffic), but I will go out of my way to stop and let them over. I mean, really, it only takes us about 10 seconds. And we've just saved that person potentially 20 minutes of waiting. He says, "They wouldn't have done it for us." Fuck that. It doesn't matter. All it takes is ONE person to start changing the world. ONE action of kindness to click something in someone's head and make them want to help someone else. One stone in a river causes ripples spreading farther than the stone could see (you know, if rocks had eyes and whatnot).

If you want the world to be better, if you want other people to quit being assholes, YOU have to be the change you want to see in the world.

 

[AerynShade]

A good person is someone who tries to leave the world a little better off than they got it, just because.

Yes, I feel that I'm a good person. I try to make other peoples' lives a little less shit. When I worked in a library I told people that it was literally my job to make other peoples' days easier. My mom, who I consider to not be a good person, goes out of her way to make life hard for everyone she meets unless she thinks she'll get something from them. Fuck that.

 

[HarmlessSquirrel]

I'm better than I have to be but not as good as I could be.

I try to be kind and helpful when I can. Sometimes I feel inhibited and psych myself out of doing more. I see people I'd like to help, and I'm held back by feeling it would be so awkward and difficult to approach them.

Sometimes I get frustrated with people. Usually I manage to be patient, but once in a while I pop and say something a bit nasty.

Meh, I'm human.

 

[eyeteach]

At one time I thought I was a good person. I was my mother's caregiver; I was the only child among my three siblings who took a sabbatical to tend to my cancer stricken father, a father who blamed me for his alcoholism to the point I put a loaded shotgun in my mouth at the age of 16; I practically raised five of my seven nieces and nephews; I put my own life on hold for a time for the sake of other's only to get shit on in the end; I volunteered to go halfway across the world to fight an enemy who's religious convictions and mores tells them to treat women, gays and non-muslims worse than any animal and got half of a leg blown off in the process; I do volunteer work every week to feed the poor and homeless; I've never drowned a kitten; I taught high school kids then went back to get a degree in early childhood education to teach elementary kids because so many of those children have never had a positive male influence in their lives.

I'm sure there are other things I could probably add but won't because yesterday something opened my eyes to whom I apparently am. I had the audacity to wish an old fashioned ass whipping on an oxygen thief that dared to beat a girl within an inch of her life. I read replies that questioned me, questioned my motives...surely I must be the worse person on the face of the earth.

So Megan in the end I guess it isn't up to me to decide whether or not I'm a good person.

 

[Camgirl]

I used to be a real big selfish asshole until I became a mother. I mean a lying, cheating horrible person. After my daughter my outlook on life changed. I actually learned from my mistakes and became a better person. I believe in karma and I treat others the way I want to be treated. I try to see the good in everyone and to do something selfless at least once a day.

My idea of a good person is someone who lives by the golden rule.


"The future I'm living now
Is not what I'd thought it'd be
The person I was before
Is nothing like me
The future I'm living now
Is the way that I want it to be
The minute I walk through the door
I slam it behind me"

 

[JoleneBrody]

I try to be.

 

[mynameisbob84]

I'm not a bad person. I don't know that I qualify as a capital G Good person though. I give £10 a month to charity and I'm good to me ma, but really that's as far as I go in making anybody else's life any better. I'm not selfless enough to put other people's needs ahead of mine, I guess. At least not consistently.

But I'm content with merely not being a cunt. I'm not violent or abusive, I'm not judgemental, I try to be open minded, and I try to be fair. Not everybody can be Mother Theresa. And I think that's okay.

 

[Rose]

This is actually something I think and worry about a lot. Honestly, I have no idea. I do my best to make things around me better, but most of the time I feel like I just fail at everything and make things worse.

 

[eyeteach]

This is actually something I think and worry about a lot. Honestly, I have no idea. I do my best to make things around me better, but most of the time I feel like I just fail at everything and make things worse.

If you weren't good I doubt that you'd worry about it. I'm marking you in the "Good Person" category.

 

[helloimc]

I think I am, but it isn't always natural. It's so easy to get wrapped up in yourself.

 

[Worship Jaclyn]

I think of myself as a good person, definitely. I have flaws for sure and I can be extremely detached from people. As a whole, I care about people. I am very thoughtful in random ways in trying to get people to smile all the time. Basically, I am very nice and good old kindness goes further than people would think.

 

[Gen]

I think so. A lot of people tend to minimize their good sides and dwell on their negatives, but generally I believe people are good and that includes me.

I really try to be kind to everyone (I'm working on being less petty & judgmental), and to do good things.

 

[DDuckworth]

I think most people are good people - but good is such a grey area...just like bad is a grey area. it's unfortunate that Hollywood has painted the good and evils of the world into such a black and white area. I think there is a real yin and yang to everyone, we all have our selfless ways (the good) and our selfishness (the bad) and unless someone is outwardly mean purposefully, then I would say they are likely a good person.

 

[Mirra]

Am I a good person? Occasionally! Maybe even most of the time! I'm decidedly a horrible person when I play Cards Against Humanity. There are plenty of bad things I've done and many I will likely continue to do, but I suspect that to be the case for a lot of people.

 

[BarbieLuv]

Whether I am a good or bad person depends on the situation and who I am interacting with. And I'm pretty sure that's true for most people - we all have both good or bad traits, but pick and choose which ones we use based on situational clues.

 

[AllisonWilder]

I can't say for sure whether or not I'm a good person. I try, I let people in cars go ahead of me, but I think that's just good car karma. I go out of my way to be nice to people, I share things, I try to be polite and I try to help others when I can. I do my best, but I don't know.

I consider good people to be people that are generally nice and try to be good.

 

[SatanJonez]

I'm an asshole and aware of it. Not sure if it's due to the way I was raised with no social interaction, or maybe a mental/psychological issue, but I have HUGE issues understanding the correct way to interact with people. I'm aware of this, and try to be nice about when someone points out when I do something fucked up. It takes a lot of effort to keep my behavior "acceptable" because it's so unnatural to me, but I try.

This is pretty much how I've noticed I come off to other people who don't know me. Between my erratically odd/loud mouth/no filter behavior & my constant resting bitch face I rarely make a good first impression (and we all know that usually sets the tone for friendship/being acquaintances with folks). It takes a lot of concentration on my part not to make a dick joke or say something crass (not towards the person directly, usually) and as it is my attention span is that of a gnat so..it usually ends up badly.

I wouldn't say I'm a bad person, but I look at it this way: if suddenly you got super powers, how would you use them? I know for DAMN sure I wouldn't go around randomly killing people, but I also wouldn't save anyone unless I felt like it, they were a totally innocent creature (animal/child) or they were someone I knew/liked. I'd use my powers to further my own goals and the goals of people I love.

 

[PlayboyMegan]

I'm on the fense.
I think I'm naturally a good person.
For example, when I was a child I hated candy (weird, I know) but I begged my mom to buy me skittles before going to the park so I could hand it out to the kids there. I literally can remember the first time I EVER lied which was at age 6, and I think most kids lie before that age. That partially had to do with my moms rule, "if you tell the truth you don't get in trouble no matter what." A few months ago I saw a lady crying in the mall and without hesitation I went up to her and hugged her and started crying with her. I have also paid for a ladies food whose credit card was denied at the register. And occasionally I'll pay for a strangers Starbucks order behind me. I have also done a lot of charity work and have a passionate love for children with Down Syndrome.
But as I've gotten older, I feel less and less like a good person. I lack serious empathy and compassion for those who have control over their situations. Like my friend who has been cheated on over 20 times and still goes back to the guy. Instead of being a good caring friend, I think she's a dumbass. I tend to judge VERY quickly especially when it comes to parenting. But I'm not sure that makes me a bad person because I genuinely care about a child's well being making me very defensive towards bad parenting of any kind. I also tend to be self-centered. If I wake up early and I'm hungry, I'll wake my bf up to drive me to breakfast not thinking about the long hard day he had at work the night before. It's just not the first thing to cross my mind, it's all about me and what I want at that moment.
I do plan on working on these bad traits and the fact that I'm trying I guess makes me somewhat of a good person, right?

 

[DDuckworth]

Am I a good person? Occasionally! Maybe even most of the time! I'm decidedly a horrible person when I play Cards Against Humanity. There are plenty of bad things I've done and many I will likely continue to do, but I suspect that to be the case for a lot of people.

I don't think any type of humor makes a person a bad person - to me it's never your words that make you who you are, it's only your actions that matter. Especially the ones you take when you think no one is looking.

 

[MsDonkey]

I don't know what I would say makes a person inherently good. I don't think I am a good person, but I try to do good things.