IT APPEARS THAT I HAVE OUTLIVED MANY PEOPLE with whom I’ve had issues over the years. We have been on opposite sides of a contest, or one of us has gotten in the way of the other somehow, or there was some occurrence that caused a lasting rift. Just the normal sort of differences that occur naturally with humankind, but over the years these things can build up. I tried to keep the list short, not wanting to offend anyone. My goal was always to do right, to do my best, and I figured my reputation would take care of itself. There were often people who might be willing to make moral compromises; I never would. Whatever that cost me, I was prepared for the loss. Some things are not worth sacrificing your self-respect. So I persisted on my way, achieving what I could, but never cheating. A person without ethics is lost. Looking back now, a lot of people with whom I contested have gone on to their final reward. Nothing that I did contributed to their finale. I attended no funerals because I live in a different city now. I recall Mark Twain’s comment that he couldn’t be at the funeral, but he sent a note saying that he approved. I wouldn’t go that far, but I can be allowed, I hope, to relish the thought that I outlived the bastards.
Hello HenryM.
I do like your goals, which are somewhat similar mine in that I like to achieve my personal best (PB)in whatever I do, regardless of whether someone else might be ‘better’ than me. I have always shunned the concept of ‘competition’ as a form of ‘bullying’, whereby people are trying to make someone else ‘lose’. Whereas, achieving a PB is a very personal thing, unrelated to whatever is going on around.
Whenever I had ‘issues’ with what other people thought or did, I would often fully engage with them to find out the full extent of their beliefs, or behavioural systems. By doing so, they provided enough ‘evidential' material for a rhyming verse or more.’ These rhymes were enough to highlight what I felt was wrong with their approach to morals, ethics, and life. It was also a way to ‘immortalise the bastards’ in a way that was non-confrontational or competitive.
I too am outliving most of my contemporaries, but have found that one of the benefits of them remaining alive is that that are often still providing me with motivational material for rhyming verse. However, there appear to be many more ‘youngsters’ taking their place, who are equally adept at making the same mistakes as their predecessors. This is particularly noticeable in the field of politics where competition and bullying has never seemed to diminish.
Best wishes
Bill
