subject: Don't Get Revenge, Offer Sympathy Instead [print this page] Don't Get Revenge, Offer Sympathy Instead
"Today, I shall meet cruel men, cowards and liars, the envious and the drunken. They will be like that because they do not know what is good from what is bad. This is an evil which has fallen upon them not upon me. They are to be pitied."
C.S. Lewis book, Til We Have Faces, reads more like a philosophy dissertation than a fictional tale. When writing this statement, what he's actually saying is that people are going to be mean, they're going to say things that you don't like. They might get in a jealous rage or abandon you in your hour of need. But the important thing is to stop it from angering you or upsetting you in anyway. Hold yourself on a higher plane. Don't feel remorse, but instead, feel sorry that their life is so difficult that they have to react so fiercely.
When someone shows anger at you, it is more reflective of their own sorrow than any of your own wrongdoing. While it's worth analyzing your own actions to make sure you're not actually doing anything wrong, it is not worth getting angry over. Don't be angry, instead, wonder what might be more deeply wrong with them. It's more saddening to see people bitter and knowing you can't do anything to help them.
Just imagine how different things would be if we could follow C.S. Lewis belief. It's time to abandon the saying "Don't get mad, get even," and try something more like "Don't get mad, offer sympathy."
