If you're the only light, shine on.

If all you see is darkness, be the only light. No matter what...shine on.
~Doe Zantamata

When you do nothing, when you don’t bother trying to be a good person, you don’t get hurt as much. You don't feel wronged as much, and you don't get shocked at how awful someone was, or how just plain mean some people can be.

When you raise the standards you set for yourself, when you are always the best, most honest, kind and giving person you can be, you are often shocked at how awful people can be...

Realize, that to them, that's normal. They think everyone thinks and is the same way they do. People like this may ask you, “Why do you care?” or other similar questions that catch you off guard. Your reply may even be, “Doesn’t everyone?”

We don't have one world, we have 7 billion different ones, one for each person who lives and breathes. If you do set your personal standards high, you’ll likely be more kind, more giving, more trusting, and more awesome than most people who you encounter. That doesn’t mean “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” It means that you’ll have to let go a lot more. You can’t change anyone, but out there in this world, there are a lot more like you who are also wandering around this big maze of a planet looking for you.

The longer you hold on to or try to change those who just want to live in misery, the less time you’ll have to meet and spend time with those who don’t. Also, the more you subject yourself to those people and the pain they cause, the more likely it will wear on you and make you think you should give up and just not bother trying to be good, honest, or trusting at all.

Don’t give up.

Please don’t give up. 

Just keep on going.

When you meet people who see the world in what those others would call an “unrealistic, idealistic, naïve” sort of way, you will have the best friends, the best relationships, and the best laughs and smiles ever.

By Doe Zantamata

Author of Karma: