The word for the last two months that have been mentioned to me the most often is “vindication” in regards to whether I’m feeling vindicated or not. Here’s the thing…when it comes to the downfall or misfortunes of other people, whether it’s lost money or ruined reputations, I’m numb when it comes to those emotions. I definitely don’t feel good about anyone going through a hard time, and I actually feel pretty bad for those kind of situations. And when it comes to feeling “vindicated”…the damage was done and the scars exist, and the best thing to do is move forward and not look back. The flaunting of the feeling of being justified with decisions that were made that worked in my favor in relation to another person’s misfortune, just reflects my own insecurities and frankly, bitterness that has yet to be dealt with. While I can’t understand why anyone who legitimately cared for another person could feel anything positive from someone else’s bad time…is it right for me to judge them? Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, who am I to judge someone else? I’m just as guilty of these actions as the next person. It’s human nature.

So, instead of going with the judgment angle, I’ve been really working on approaching situations and people with love. You know…it’s really tough sometimes. But I have learned a lot from doing this because I’ve found that the only people who really get their jollies from bullying, writing passive aggressive posts, or making fun of someone else are truly miserable people. Woops, I’m judging again. But really, I’ve never seen a happy person make fun of someone for their appearance, speech, or their efforts in different areas. Most of the people I’ve met who really are happy and loving don’t do that.

As a society, we need to start focusing on building people up rather than bringing them down. Not only is it the right thing to do, but getting satisfaction over bringing another down or over someone’s misfortune won’t do any good for your own character and well-being. However, we’re all human…and we can’t be perfect all of the time. So I guess the best that we can even do is do the right thing when we can and correct the situation when we go wrong.

Where we receive our satisfaction is a direct reflection of our character. So, essentially, what I’m saying is…get satisfaction from the uplifting of people. Because getting satisfaction from the opposite will just expose the ugly side of your character, and do you really want that?

On a more lighthearted note…I couldn’t resist the elephant in the room that the other word for this blog would be “schadenfreude”, which reminded me of the song from the musical, Avenue Q. Enjoy! *Note: There is some language and contains adult content.