A good man

why is it good to be good?

One sunny afternoon, in a little restaurant with a beautiful terrace looking directly at the mesmerizing beach of the sea of Mykonos Island, two old friends sat down for a cup of coffee.

They have known each other for a lifetime, and even though they took so different paths in life, the bond of their friendship had endured all the trials, including the passage of time.

Stefanos, the oldest of the two friends, was also the saddest. He was the one that set up the encounter. He needed to talk to his dearest friend, Philipus.

- You are a good man, Philipus.

- Why would you say that, Stefanos?

- Well, I just need to see you.

- See me doing what?

- I see you sleeping less and doing more. I see you worrying about your neighbor more than yourself. I see you giving what you have and even what you don't have to those in need. I see you living out your life for the others and not for yourself.

- And that makes me a good man?

- I would say so, Philipus.

- You might be closer to truth calling me a madman, Stefanos.

- Why is that?

- Because maybe I am a madman. Anyway, I can tell you for sure that I am not a good man. Doing good deeds doesn't make a man "good".

- Then what does?

- Nothing. We can't be good. Not really. That is not our duty. We can only try to be happy.

- Then why on earth would anyone live like you live?

- Because I want to be happy.

- I don't think I'm following you. Maybe you are a madman.

- Yes, indeed. Maybe I am. But to tell you the truth, I think I might have figured it out.

- Figured out what, exactly?

- The secret to happiness.

- And won't you share such wisdom with me?

- Of course I will, my good friend. You see, I realized that life is build upon contradictions and balance. Let me give you an example. If a man falls in love with a fair maiden, how should he seek her love?

- By paying attention to her. He should court her.

- Yes indeed, but wouldn't you agree that the lady in question would show herself less interested if the suitor in question was too candid with his attentions?

- I suppose you are right.

- Of course I am right. If he wants to conquer her heart, he needs to present himself to her and then retire into the shadows. Even a little contempt towards a woman will light the fire of desire in her feminine heart. It is, as you see, a contradiction. But at the same time, it is a balance, for if he were to express too many negative feelings towards her, he would drive her away forever.

- I see what you mean, but how is it related to our initial question?

- You see, the same principle applies to all of the most important elements of life. If you want to be respected, then the first thing you need to do is to stop looking for people's respect, then you can work from there. If you want to find true love, you have to quit searching for it, then you can work from there. 

Happiness is no exception to this.

If you want to be truly, deeply happy, you first need to renounce that same desire. Then you can work from there.

- And how do you know where to move?

- That also follows the same principle of contradiction and balance. Tell me, what are the logical steps to take towards happiness?

- I guess that wealth, women and health is the most logical answer. Isn't it?

- Well, I'll call that an oversimplification, but yes, you get what I mean. What logic dictates, what the world dictates, is that you will be happy once you have everything you want. The problem is, we always want more, resulting in an endless cycle of discontent for anyone devoted to these doctrines.

So here comes the contradiction again. If you want to be happy, doing exactly the opposite to what you want is most likely the right answer.

- And you have to balance it, like with your example about the young lover boy. Too much attention or too little of it and the girl will be gone forever.

- Exactly! Now you are getting the hang of it.

- So, if I want to eat some delicious piece of pie, the path to happiness is not eating it?

- Something like that. Then again, you need to find balance. If the occasion is favorable, you may eat the pie with no regrets whatsoever.

But let me put food aside and get to the point. You say that you see me living my life for others instead of myself. Well, that is closer to what I am trying to tell you. If I wanted to keep my time and my work to myself, that would certainly drive me away from happiness. I can tell you for sure because I've also tried that path before.

- I see.

- So now you know. You see me sleeping less and doing more, worrying about my neighbor more than myself, giving what I have and even what I don't have to those in need, living out my life for the others and not for myself, not because I am good, but because I'm in a pursuit of happiness.

- And have you found it?

Philipus smiled.

- Yes, my friend, I have.

Author's Note

Please do criticize my work. I will appreciate anything you can mention for me to improve.

Note about the picture: It is painting by José María Velasco, a mexican painter.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

The first thing I want to say is, "Where are they?" Are they walking somewhere together? Sitting at a cafe? It would be much better if you let the reader form a visual picture of where the two are.
Should be "built upon...) life is build upon
This could be worded better. _" By having attentions with her." I suggest "by showing her attention" or "by paying attention to her", or "being attentive toward her".
I would replace "every" with "all"--"applies to every of the most important elements..."
Same thing here--"almost every of the most important..." Use "all" instead.
This wording is awkward--"who devotes to this doctrines." I suggest "anyone who devotes themselves to these doctrines", or "anyone devoted to these doctrines."
This one is incorrect--"the right answer most of the times." The word should be "time" with no "S" or you could change it to something like "most usually the right answer".
This sentence is not quite understandable to me, though it's fine until the first comma-"You say that you see me living my life for others, were, that is more close to what I am trying to tell you."
Philipus's philosophy on life and happiness is workable, though not something everyone could practice. We know we probably can't be financially successful overnight, but love is different and could occur at any time. A walk in the park, a trip to the market--these could yield wonderful fruit. He's right about trying too hard to make it happen, though. As for devoting more time and energy to others than to one's self--that can be looked at as a kind of selfishness. It's a case of rational selfishness. It makes one feel good about themselves when they help others. If I walk by a beggar and give them nothing, I'll feel like a bad person, so in order to feel good about myself, I make the rational selfish decision to put money in their hand.

[Esteban Morfín]

Thank you so so much! I really appreciate this kind of reviews. This is what I signed up for. I'll make all the corrections right away.

Thank you also for taking the time to talk about my ideas. I know they are flawed. I was trying to keep them as simple as possible. It doesn't really depict what I believe.

In the regard of the rational selfishness that you mention, I agree with you, and that is exactly the idea that I wanted to transmit. I personally believe that doing something for others just for the sake of it is not good, it's stupid, and that attitude leads many people into being trampled over by everyone. Now, this is all from a strictly secular point of view, leaving God entirely out of the picture, which I personally believe is also a mistake, but for a non-believer, the best they can do is to be generous with others for their own sake, even if they don't believe in nothing, because ultimately it will make them happy.

If you want to know what I truly believe, I'll say that only in God and through Him we will find our true self, and that it is only in Him that we will find true happiness, a much deeper and profound and authentic happiness than what a non-believer can ever achieve, but that is a very personal point view.

I don't like to talk much about God outside of certain circles, because that topic usually brings out ugly and hostile aspects of my interlocutors, so I generally try to approach deep topics in a manner that can apply to everyone in general, no matter what they believe in.

[Samuel Dickens]

I'm very happy to see the changes you've now made! It's much better now.
I'm a Christian, but reject how man often twists God's message.

[Esteban Morfín]

Well, thank you very much for the suggestions!
I agree with you. We tend to make Jesus say what we want Him to say.

[emmajoy]

Must say the following: in having comments from Samuel, you have gentle advice from a first.class story writer! You've slowly spun a wonderful piece of philosophy in your story, perhaps a little repetitive now and again but then, that's what people do when discussing important thoughts. Think i'd have liked to know more about the characters, their age, their looks.. would have set them centre stage perhaps? The language you've used is quite formal, old fashioned even but is, somehow, right for such a subject.. the words aren't merely thrown to the air, but placed very carefully

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts in this post because, methinks that might be what you've done rather than sermonise - which is probably what I'm doing in this review! .

(Tidied and deleted my typos, so sorry)

[Esteban Morfín]

thanks a lot for taking the time for such a review! I am still pretty green at character development, but I will surely work on it.
I am glad you liked it!

[Lale]

Stefanos has long white hair, a dark beard and blue eyes. He smells like harbour. You can tell from his peeled skin and sunburn on his face that he is a fisherman. He is wearing a white shirt with wooden buttons and black shorts. I still don't know why he is always grumpy. Every wrinckle tells a story. He is a nice man, but he never shows. Everybody thinks he's a coffee person. In fact, Stefanos is a tea person.

[Esteban Morfín]

Wow! Love this! I hope one day I can infuse this kind of life in my characters!

[Lale]

I love your story. I love how contradicted the characters are. Thank you for expanding my imagination, Esteban.

[Esteban Morfín]

I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your ideas!

[Brian Shepard]

Wonderful fun. The dialogue seems just slightly forced. Almost like two robots designed to be men having a conversation about what that means. I love dialogue driven narrative. Well done sir.

[Esteban Morfín]

Oh no! I don't like them being robots. I shall work in fixing that. Thanks a lot for the comment!

[Rye]

I enjoyed the descriptiveness and the imagery. nicely done

[Esteban Morfín]

thank you very much!

[Austin Wade Runyon]

This is a very good one. Great sentiments. The balance of doing things for others as a way to stave off excess self indulgence is a wonderful idea.

[Esteban Morfín]

Thanks for reading and for your comment. I'm glad you took a look at this one.

[Ana Papaya]

I enjoyed the interaction between these two characters. The dialogue flowed effortlessly.
There's some real old school wisdom here.

[Esteban Morfín]

thanks for reading!

[Ana Papaya]

You're welcome. I enjoyed the story!

[Mercedes Morfin]

This is the kind of short story that will make you think, and then smile.
This dialogue although it might be a little repetitive, it is easy to understand, and very well written.