“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” Benjamin Franklin
I’ve often wondered about the way that we put faith in people and forces of nature. Sometimes I think we do it because we just have a need to feel better about ourselves because if we stopped to think about it all long enough, we might not like the person we see in the mirror every day.
I think at one point or another we do not like who we are. It can come to many different things such as the way we look, the way we feel, the manner in the way we say things or just how we feel we looked upon by others.
I care a lot less now about what people think of me then I did 5-6 years ago. To get to the state of mind I had to find out that never everyone will like you for what you are and will sometimes look for what you aren’t. The majority of the time I feel I do not need to be around those who think like that. However I have friends who know what I am and am not and still choose to be around me and have faith in the strength of my relationship with them.
I used to work in betting shops of a pretty big English company (it has many shops in Ireland) and I was struck then by the varying degrees of people I both worked with and served. Some were there with a chip on their shoulder and felt the need to let you constantly know that ‘serve’ was exactly what you were meant to do. They always felt they were owed something and that the “customer is always right”. Anyone that’s worked in a shop knows that is not true and anyone who has worked in a betting shop knows that for 90% of genuine people who want to go and have a bet, the remainder just want to put one over on others.
It leaves you with a cynical view of the world and I’ve come away from it knowing that Dublin has a seedier side, an underbelly that would not be placed on tourist board advertisements. I stuck with that job for three years mainly out of need and also because I couldn’t get away from it.
However there were many times I wanted to walk away, that the faith I had in people was slowly diminishing. I suppose once you get called all the names under the sun and get threatened in many ways there should be only so much to take. What little faith I had left went to those who were genuine, who didn’t go out of their way to stitch people up and I guess that’s the way I want to be treated. If you play fair I play fair, because the alternative is that if you put me in a position where I cannot trust you then I am probably not to going to take you seriously again.
I have more faith in people then I did, but now perhaps maybe I realise their failings, and mine as well, in relation to the way we see someone and expect them to always be the way we picture them. It doesn’t always happen and it’s very difficult to maintain.
I admire people who have faith in others, because it’s mostly in religious circles this happens, that they will eventually see the light as such and prove that the determination of others was worthwhile. Mother Theresa apparently questioned her faith and belief at times, to be honest I cannot blame her. She was in a situation that no one should have to find themselves in no matter how miraculous her work was.
You can do anyone’s work for a long time and with hope and enthusiasm that a better day is coming, but what happens if it doesn’t? What happens if everyday is the same and so the will to be positive lessons? I think we start to lead into depression and I’ve already mentioned that in previous columns.
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions.
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