The duality

"The world doesn't reward the kindest people. It rewards the smartest survivors"

I hated that sentence the first time I heard it. It felt cynical. Cold. Like something a villain in a movie or a book would say before doing their villain things. We are taught from the childhood that if we are honest and hardworking and kind then everything will eventually work out. We grown up beleiving that good people always win in the end. It is a comforting idea. It gives us hope. It makes the world feel fair.

Then life happens. You see the employee who works the hardest job got overlooked for a promotion while the one with better connections gets the job. You watch the honest people struggle to make ends meet while others build fortunes through shortcuts and manipulation. You see kindness mistaken for weakness, generosity exploitater and sincerity and loyalness takes for granted.

And for a moment you wonder if the world has been lying to all along. That is when the dangerous thought comes to your mind. The devil in your whispers "May be being good is not enough" .

But here is where things get complicated. I have also met people who became so determined never to be hurt again that they stopped trusting anyone. They built walls so high that nobody could climb them. They confused intelligence with emotional distance and strength with indifference. They survive every battle yet somehow lose the ability to enjoy peace.

So what does it actually mean to survive? Is it having the most money? The most power? The least amount of pain? Or is it about survival? Or keeping part of yourself that make life worth living?

I don't think kindness and wisdom are enemies. I think kindness without boundaries became self destruction. And intelligence without compassion becomes cruelty. The world nqt reward people who knows how to play the game but that does not mean that you have to cheat to stay on it. There are two types of Good people. Like Ned Stark who knows that there is a game going on but hounarable enough not to play at it and Tyrian Lannister who knows the game and just meddles it without affecting the innocent. Only one of characters status alive long enough.

Being a good person does not make you a easy target. Sometimes kindest thing you can do is walk away. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is say "Enough". And sometimes protecting your peace will make you look like the villain in someone's story. That is a price worth paying.

Because life is not about choosing between kind and strong. It is about knowing when to be strong and when to be kind. The world is not perfectly fair. And another quote from Sirius Black goes like this...there is no perfect distinction between Good people and death eater. We all have both the light and dark parts...it depends on which part we chose to act on.