During a conversation with a friend, it came to my attention that sound ethical living requires little critical thought. Sure, there are tough issues that require (according to some) the long deliberation of theologians, moral philosophers, applied ethicists and policy makers.
There are decisions we must make in the course of our own lives that require careful consideration and a fair share of decision making.
On a daily basis, however, we are not confronted with these choices. The vast majority of our lives are filled with much of the same daily situations and mundane, unremarkable circumstances. This is precisely why our energy is often so misplaced.
On a college campus especially, but truly anywhere, you’ll find no shortage of ethical opinions. People spend their ethical quotas, so to speak, consumed with right and wrong on scales they have no control over, and this is what leads me to my main point: we need to spend the majority of our ethical considerations on those around us. In essence, we need to apply our energy to that which we have under our control.
Fortunately, it’s simple to live a good life. It doesn’t take years of studying the Bible or complex moral philosophy, and it doesn’t take years walking the mountains of Tibet in search of greater meaning.
All it requires is a working understanding of the late ’80s movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The secret of the good life, mined from this gem of a movie, is so elegant and concise that it could fit on a bumper sticker: “Be excellent to each other.”
That’s it: be excellent to your fellow man. To everybody with whom you come in contact, be excellent. Such a simple charge, yet so unfulfilled — even in our blessed society.
Think about the large amount of people you come into contact with on a daily basis. We always tend to forget or gloss over it, but we can have a profound effect on each person’s day, depending on how we choose to act. A little bit of excellence and kindness can go a long way, but it seems as if we forget these virtues all too often.
Each morning (or afternoon for those of us who are less ambitious with our schoolwork) we rise out of bed, and we go through the motions of our daily routine — shave, shower (for some), and one pant-leg at a time. Two laces tied and it’s off to meet the day.
Others of us take extra time to apply makeup and complicated processes to our hair. How often do we do all these things, but forget to adjust our attitude on the way out the door? How many times do we forget to start the day smiling?
It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. We forget how fortunate we are and how we have so many things to smile about. Not only do we live in a country where we can freely express our views, but we go to bed well-fed and with the assurance of civil stability. Additionally, we are the select few fortunate enough to receive a college education and all of the benefits such a thing entails.
Yet still, take a look around. It should only take a few moments to find conflicts over trivialities, people warring over childish idiocy — what he said, what she said, who she slept with, and what he’s wearing. Always around the corner is a frown and a string of complaints muttered into a cell phone — typically about what that person said, and wasn’t it so bold of him?
We need to move away from this disturbing trend of taking our circumstances and our fellows for granted. We need to stop wanting to one-up and embarrass others for fun and to make ourselves feel better. What we need is to be excellent to each other — we have every reason to be.
Be excellent to Mike at [email protected].
