How do you know that you're a good person?

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Think_n_See

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Jan 27, 2006, 8:46:31 PM1/27/06
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How do you know that you're a good person?
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>From a personal point of view, how do you know that you're a good
person? Using your own judgement about the meaning of 'good person,'
how do you know that you're such a person?

Great! Thanks!

Indeed

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Jan 27, 2006, 9:19:33 PM1/27/06
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How do I know?
I know because:
* My friends tell me that I'm a good person.
* I feel that I'm a good person. I feel that my actions and my beliefs
about the world are good.
* I know when I am making right and good decisions - it feels right and
good.
* I know when I've done things that haven't been good - it's felt
rotten.
* It is usually when I am taking the path of least resistance between
what I want to do and what I do. It just appears simple. And right.
And good.

da5zeay

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Jan 28, 2006, 7:46:18 PM1/28/06
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The first thought that comes to mind is that I don't know if I'm really
a good person. But then the follow-up thought is that maybe if I ask
myself that question frequently enough, that's an indicator that I am?

Goodness to me is a kind of inclusiveness and an acknowledgement. While
there's a lot of differences between people and with their internal and
emotional logic, there are a lot of fundamental similarities too. We
experience fear, uncertainty, isolation. We experience joy, happiness,
communion. We experience lots of things. I think a good person
recognizes the commonality of this experience and embraces it, and does
what he/she can to strengthen the good parts and survive the bad ones
as a PART of something greater. Greater good, maybe. I think it's a
willingness to feel that kind of connectiveness between people and the
self, and express it through action. Cultivating the ability to express
through action is part of what makes someone actively good, I believe.

Maybe the short answer is that there's a common love that everyone can
be part of, and if I believe I can be a contributor of that, maybe I'm
a good person.

Wall_Of_Optimism

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Jan 29, 2006, 8:51:55 PM1/29/06
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I know I'm a good person because:

1. I adjust my car to fit properly within the parking spot lines

2. I don't find humor in watching the humiliting scenes of rejection
and suffering in the one episode of "Amercian Idol" that I watched.

3. I read the news and shake my head daily wondering whether I'm the
only sane person on the planet.

Think_n_See

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Jan 30, 2006, 1:09:19 AM1/30/06
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Hi da5zeay, Hi Wall!
Nice to see you guys again. :)

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