Nothing Has Meaning

Have you ever noticed how some people are simply brokers of ill will? They always manipulate and polarize those around them. They do this for their own benefit, and typically polarize, manipulate and pit against one another the people from whom they directly benefit.

Reminds me of the killer in Agatha Christie’s Curtain, Hercule Poirot’s final appearance.

The killer in Curtain didn’t actually kill anyone. In fact, Poirot wound up killing the killer and then killing himself leaving behind an explanation because he saw no other way to stop this killer lawfully, as there was no crime under the law in the story, and under most laws.

This killer was a broker of ill will. He would psychologically manipulate others into committing murder, even against the dear and near. He would do this maliciously for no apparent reason other than satisfaction of creating and spreading his malice.

Brokers of, and in, ill will seem to be mean spirited people, not entirely without merit as is common among human beings, but simply bent on achieving what I can only assume is the satisfaction of creating and preserving chasms between people, factions pitted against one another, usually so the broker feels benefited in some way.

There are varying degrees of this affliction as well. In some cases, it’s more of a bad character trait, a part of the whole, than it is their entire identity. In these cases you’ll only see the manifestation of the affliction intermittently while some are just constant downers. The really evil ones do it without you even knowing it’s happening, then suddenly, we see people behaving in unprecedented ways.

Brokering ill will has its roots in pure malice, and some appear to do it to preserve a perceived self interest on their part, to prevent what they think would be a catastrophic change from the status quo.

Brokering ill will stems from fear. Fear of the truth being known and thus causing some sort of damage to the fearful party. The truth is so feared in some quarters that life is a pitiful and painful existence.

In fact, most evil comes from fear. Fear is probably the real root of all bizarre and uniquely human evil behavior. It’s that ill juxtaposition of animal behavior and higher human intelligence.

So what can we do about these brokers of ill will?  You can only change you so all you have to do is not allow these brokers to manipulate your thinking, your feeling, your understanding.

The bottom line is that our minds are windows, the window we look through, and any time you allow another person to influence your mind, without careful consideration and self referral on your part, you’ve given away a part of yourself and made that part of yourself something foreign, essentially into what the manipulator wanted.

Really, your mind is your universe, and the content of your mind is yours to mold. Why let others make you into something you are not?

Seize your mind and think for yourself.

When the going gets tough the tough get going. You have probably heard this saying before, and on the face of it is quite humorous, however, also quite telling.

The point here is that being "tough" implies a certain set of, yes, principles and values. (I have a category for principle now…)

So the tough, implicitly then, adhere to a set of principles along the lines of standing up for principle, not backing down, fighting for truth and justice, keeping on keeping on, not meekly fading in the face of adversity, carrying on when the chips are down, persistence, trebuchet, hammering the point, persistence…and did I mention persistence?

Of course tough could have other meanings depending on your point of view, something as mundane as "hard to kill". But I think we all can agree that collectively we refer to "tough" as being someone with backbone,  and that means adherence to a set of principles and values. Of course a lot of tough people may be evil and wrongdoers, and still adhere to a set of principles.

Have you ever noticed, then, that this saying is essentially true?

On the flip side, the meek and the flaccid lay down when the going gets tough. Those without principle, or principle without opposition , lay down. Those "fair weather" types who talk big and walk small lay down. In fact, when the going gets tough, you learn what people are really made of. Fair weather is easy, bad weather can be hard, challenging, and require taking on a lot of demonizing and criticism, usually from those without backbone.

So we learn much from the actions of people in tough circumstances. And reveal the truth.

Only the tough keep on keeping on in the face of adversity. Are you tough?