Dear Seaturtle:

“What comes to mind now, is that a majorly good person is one with good intentions but doesn’t always get that across,“- good people have good intentions, but good intentions not getting across can be a failure on the part of the receiver: misunderstanding, inaccurate projections, and such.

“or that they think their intentions are good, but are missing some information and their good intentions are misguided, causing bad outcomes“- this is why it is important to ask questions and to make educated decisions, decisions on what to say/ type/ do, not based on unchecked assumptions. When you try to help a person in a particular situation, and you feel that you understand the situation, ask yourself: is there a different angle to look at the situation? Is there a bigger picture that I am not yet seeing?

“Whereas a fully good person is completely in line with their third eye, and therefore their intentions are always pure, never contaminated with bias or selfish wants. A fully good person always effects the environment neutrally or positively“- I challenge this and say: there is no such person, a fully good person, not a single one. This is a description of a saint (a fictional character, including those labeled saints by the Catholic church), or of a god that’s made in the image of a perfect human (which doesn’t exist). No one is a fully good person.

“a majorly good person can sometimes have negative effects on others and the world“- all majorly good people have negative effects on others and the world, knowingly and not knowingly. Majorly good people use plastic and then placing it in the recycle bin, they believe that they are doing the right thing.. not knowing that plastic does not get recycled and so, they are adding waste and harm to the world.

Everyone who votes in elections, adds support to politicians who have positive, but also negative effects on the world. This is why many vote for the “lesser of two evils”: they knowingly vote for a candidate who adds harm to the world.

Being a majorly good person is about minimizing harm whenever, wherever possible (not avoiding or preventing it all together, which is an impossibility).

“my dad did not treat me as if I was a good person, he was skeptic of me and I was disciplined and criticized all the time. But for K, he seems to have the same overlying issue as me, doubting his goodness, but he didn’t have a critical parent, his mom over gave praise to him to an extent to where he now wonders ‘what is real praise and what is exaggerated’“- his mother praised him, he believed her but found out- through interactions with peers/ other people- that her praise was exaggerated or untrue altogether. Examples, if she told him something like: you are the most intelligent boy in the world! Or you are the most handsome boy in the world! And then a teacher gave him a C while a dozen peers received Bs and As, or when a girl he was interested in rejected his advances and chose another boy.. then there’s dissonance in his brain, thinking something like: if I really am the most intelligent, why didn’t I get a B or an A?

“How can two different types of parents, both result in a hard time receiving praise or seeing yourself as good?“- your father criticized you, his mother built him up so that (unintentionally) he would be taken down by society.

“What is the balance of praise and constructive criticism that leads to a healthy self esteem (seeing self as good). I ask because I want to balance myself out, and I also want to raise a balanced child one day“- for example, instead of telling a child generalities like: you are the most intelligent person in the world, or the most handsome, say something specific, like: I like how you figured out this math problem, good job! Or I like your posture, how you stand with your back straight and shoulders back!

“This is where I can be thankful, and one of the ways my experience breaks away from yours… My way of life doesn’t make sense to him and he still laughs at me… ‘why would you work at a cafe you are way too over qualified’… But then he says he is glad I am happy.. which I think I believe… It’s like he doesn’t see me as bad anymore, but he sees me as something else now… not intelligent, lazy (since I am not resume building/ climbing a corporate ladder)…“- I am glad that your father no longer conducts house-cleaning-sessions or the likes of it and that he mellowed down, good thing. But his earlier messages, the you-are-a-bad-person message has not been removed from your brain just because he doesn’t repeat that message anymore. No longer hearing that message is a great relief though, and it is helpful.

“when you say the majority of your life, how long ago did you begin peeling this label off? is it off?“- it was a long process. I’d say the process began in 2011 when I attended my first quality psychotherapy. The label is off and has been off on a regular, reliable basis in the last few months. It doesn’t mean that I don’t question my words and actions in regard to the Helpful vs Harmful factor.