Virtue and vice are more or less antonyms when it comes to the overall conduct of a person. This will mean opposite attributes or at the least the distant ends of a continuum. In reality however, there can be just a thin line between virtue and vice. So to speak, a virtue can suddenly become viewed as if it were a vice.
For example, I have always intuitively leaned towards peace-making when there is a squabble in my environs. These days I find that my instincts to being the “middle man” has been un-preferred by folks. Not that they do not see the good gesture but they would rather have it otherwise. In a world of egos and pride, I have come to expect this as a probable outcome when my good virtues are let loose.
Whether virtue is heeded or not should not deter its expression. This in itself is what makes it a virtue. Whether people applaud it or not, the world needs it. If there was any thin line over which virtue becomes a vice, it is a reflection of people’s perception, individualized and a mere impulse to prove a point. Who does not want to have the last laugh after all?
Life is deeper than this though. If one is to react to every assault, the responsibility of our lives will be others’ reserve. No loss is greater than the loss of one self, at the expense of getting even none the less. That thin line, if it does exist must be ignored if one is to be true to one’s real self; a self that transmits inherent value i.e. virtue.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK: when the job causes distress
Once again, I take an exception to the rule - I am writing about something related to work. After all, most of our lives revolve around work and the bulk of what is left spent on sleep. So when at the end of today’s events, a friend said to debrief myself and then get some sleep, I decided to stray from the origins of this blog: my non-doctor self.
Today is Thursday but I could practically say it’s been a very busy and tiring week. It does not feel any worse when certain work place events add to the physical strain. This, especially like when irreversible consequence such as death is a part of the plot. Death that is no one’s fault but that involves a forensic trail with an uncertain but almost little threshold to find someone on whose laps the final blame is thrust unto. I am not responsible for any thing that resulted in the dire outcome of the day but I was active within the circles in which they happened and it’s just very distressing.
So at the end of the work-day, I find myself ebbing towards being garrulous in the company of friends and taking off the lid on impulsive buying. I also stopped over at the video club to pick something that could distract me as well concentrate my thought. It turns out that a comedy can make us as pensive as the odes from a classic.
I have now just finished watching Morning Glory and the plot has indeed provoked my view. The extremes of work-based behaviour between Becky (Rachel McAdams) and Mike (Harrison Ford) can be the two sides of the same coin. While one could be spontaneous and “jerky” about the job, one should also be a bit held back and aloof. OK, may be not to wear that snarl and go about grouchy at work as Mike did, but sometimes in that alone cum eccentric position, inspirational thoughts can be very deep! Becky sums it up when she finally sees it up to the neck and screams “I am tired of feeling guilty about my work”. What a truth.
We should enjoy our jobs and when circumstances speak in the contrary remember tomorrow is another day. We will have to leave today’s night behind and give life another shot at the break of a new day.
Today is Thursday but I could practically say it’s been a very busy and tiring week. It does not feel any worse when certain work place events add to the physical strain. This, especially like when irreversible consequence such as death is a part of the plot. Death that is no one’s fault but that involves a forensic trail with an uncertain but almost little threshold to find someone on whose laps the final blame is thrust unto. I am not responsible for any thing that resulted in the dire outcome of the day but I was active within the circles in which they happened and it’s just very distressing.
So at the end of the work-day, I find myself ebbing towards being garrulous in the company of friends and taking off the lid on impulsive buying. I also stopped over at the video club to pick something that could distract me as well concentrate my thought. It turns out that a comedy can make us as pensive as the odes from a classic.
I have now just finished watching Morning Glory and the plot has indeed provoked my view. The extremes of work-based behaviour between Becky (Rachel McAdams) and Mike (Harrison Ford) can be the two sides of the same coin. While one could be spontaneous and “jerky” about the job, one should also be a bit held back and aloof. OK, may be not to wear that snarl and go about grouchy at work as Mike did, but sometimes in that alone cum eccentric position, inspirational thoughts can be very deep! Becky sums it up when she finally sees it up to the neck and screams “I am tired of feeling guilty about my work”. What a truth.
We should enjoy our jobs and when circumstances speak in the contrary remember tomorrow is another day. We will have to leave today’s night behind and give life another shot at the break of a new day.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
Big brother is watching. But guess what? He is not the only one watching.
The media world is currently rift with news about the untoward methods employed by the now defunct News of the World. As much as Murdoch’s actions are considered astute in a business sense, I feel they were almost unnecessary. The exception to my assertion will perhaps be the moral issue of infringing on other people’s privacy.
My drift is that who takes News of the World seriously in the first place? The stories it ran especially in our generation have always been aimed at an audience obsessed with all that is not necessarily true or out rightly spurious. This said, I really wish I can get a copy of the ‘closing edition” of the paper as part of my growing magazine collection.
Sometimes, we have to confront that which is baseless and incorrect in our world. I decided to write this post when earlier this week I stumbled into an e-copy of a letter of mine written in 2008 to correct a columnist who had gone out of line on the Nigerian Guardian. As if all the newspapers’ readers were waiting for the letter to the published, my article triggered a cascade of responses that ran for a couple of months in the newspaper.
People know what has substance from what constitutes junk. The fact that nothing is said in response to junk media is partly an attempt not to dignify what is “low beef”. I am still of the opinion that the shutting down of News of the World is just a business decision. People always knew they were dubious in information gathering and its news was at the least, exaggerated. Silence does not always infer ignorance.
The media world is currently rift with news about the untoward methods employed by the now defunct News of the World. As much as Murdoch’s actions are considered astute in a business sense, I feel they were almost unnecessary. The exception to my assertion will perhaps be the moral issue of infringing on other people’s privacy.
My drift is that who takes News of the World seriously in the first place? The stories it ran especially in our generation have always been aimed at an audience obsessed with all that is not necessarily true or out rightly spurious. This said, I really wish I can get a copy of the ‘closing edition” of the paper as part of my growing magazine collection.
Sometimes, we have to confront that which is baseless and incorrect in our world. I decided to write this post when earlier this week I stumbled into an e-copy of a letter of mine written in 2008 to correct a columnist who had gone out of line on the Nigerian Guardian. As if all the newspapers’ readers were waiting for the letter to the published, my article triggered a cascade of responses that ran for a couple of months in the newspaper.
People know what has substance from what constitutes junk. The fact that nothing is said in response to junk media is partly an attempt not to dignify what is “low beef”. I am still of the opinion that the shutting down of News of the World is just a business decision. People always knew they were dubious in information gathering and its news was at the least, exaggerated. Silence does not always infer ignorance.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
TIME OUT
What do you do when there is much to do? The obvious is to roll up your sleeves and start doing something. Today is one such day and I know if I get on with the things I have got lined up for the weekend, I would be ahead of some nagging study and personal deadlines. Instead, I have found myself just leaning towards everything self-indulging.
Just as life can really take a drift towards what was never planned for, so can one’s day go. Throughout this week, my work routines have been much interrupted by circumstances which despite being within the frame of my job description require urgent attendance at the expense of everything else. So on this “free” weekend, I have found myself both exhausted and intuitively uninterested in what I had lined up for now.
In a world that is full of physically exhaustive routines, requiring mental alertness round the clock and in which two overtime time duties spanning 48 hours were done in a week, I have found myself thinking I could once again shrug off all of it and get on with my own stuff. Added to these is the psychological impact of all the life and death issues that I found myself sorting out this week. I guess the answer is a two-letter word: NO!
To give an answer to my opening question, I would say it does every one good to take a moment off pressing deadlines, catch some variety and then get down to what is at hand. I am not an avid supporter of the concept of time-outs in sports. It breaks the flow and then we spend a longer time watching the game. However, I think I need to be reminded time and again that when the heat is on, a time-out could also be a part of the game of life.
GLOBAL FILTER
I watched a little while ago as the flag of the world's newest country, South Sudan was hoisted for the first time. I am reminded that justice is always greeted with cheers. And seeing all those hypocritical personalities at the event, I dear add that when justice becomes undeniable, it has many friends and relatives.
Just as life can really take a drift towards what was never planned for, so can one’s day go. Throughout this week, my work routines have been much interrupted by circumstances which despite being within the frame of my job description require urgent attendance at the expense of everything else. So on this “free” weekend, I have found myself both exhausted and intuitively uninterested in what I had lined up for now.
In a world that is full of physically exhaustive routines, requiring mental alertness round the clock and in which two overtime time duties spanning 48 hours were done in a week, I have found myself thinking I could once again shrug off all of it and get on with my own stuff. Added to these is the psychological impact of all the life and death issues that I found myself sorting out this week. I guess the answer is a two-letter word: NO!
To give an answer to my opening question, I would say it does every one good to take a moment off pressing deadlines, catch some variety and then get down to what is at hand. I am not an avid supporter of the concept of time-outs in sports. It breaks the flow and then we spend a longer time watching the game. However, I think I need to be reminded time and again that when the heat is on, a time-out could also be a part of the game of life.
GLOBAL FILTER
I watched a little while ago as the flag of the world's newest country, South Sudan was hoisted for the first time. I am reminded that justice is always greeted with cheers. And seeing all those hypocritical personalities at the event, I dear add that when justice becomes undeniable, it has many friends and relatives.
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