Today I have become witness to something amaizing that I would like to share with everyone here on this website, and this might help some people out there who are struggling with this issue, and the philosophy of it, just like I have been struggling with it every single day of my life for the last 6 years or so and now it is time to move on.
Here goes the story:
I got a cousin here that lives very close to me and he has a sister. About a year and a half ago his sister started dating this guy who she claimed was her soulmate. We got to know this guy better and better as time went along and now he is really cool with us. The thing about him though is that he had a kind of troubled past where he at the age of 16 or so got involved with some wrong people and ended up in jail for 3 months over some stupid gang violence shit where he shot at some person that was trying to shoot him. He got out of jail and has been trying to keep his act up and not go back to jail ever since. The guy is kind of like a matrial artist and knows how to fight pretty well and jail helped enhance those skills daily. Now while he was in jail, and before he was in jail, he had to make alliances with certain people (such as the latinos or some kind of a gang) in order to be able to survive in jail (because you cannot survive in jail all by yourself). Now the point is that tonight…years later…his past caught finally caught up with him. A couple of guys showed up at the pool hall where we were at and they were some guys that he had been hanging out with before he was in jail. One of the gang guys was pissed off because he claimed that our friend had sort of abandoned them and their crew. His cousin was with him and he was pissed off too. Well the two of them had a somewhat long conversation and everything seemed cool. But when we were leaving, the cousin of that gang member came outside and started talking all stuff like ‘You got a problem with my cousin’ and all that and eventually he took a swing at my friend (even though his cousin was telling him that everything was cool and that there was no problem anymore). When the guy threw his punch he barely hit but still it was a punch and we just got in the car and drove off. My friend said he was cool and that he is not worrying over this issue and that he doesn’t handle his problems this way anymore (by fighting that is). Then we went home.
This is the story and it is 100% True. The point that I want you people to see here is that it would have been very easy for my friend to knock that fake gangster out. He could have destroyed the guy but he didn’t. He knows better…he is a changed man…and he won’t go back down that dark road anymore. It doesn’t take much effort to punch someone but it takes a whole lot more not to. The moral of the story is that if you got something in your past, and it is holding you back from having that future that you always wanted, it is time to let that shit go. Life doesn’t rewind and every second that you loose is lost forever. So what I am trying to tell you people is IF HE CAN CHANGE, THEN MAYBE WE ALL CAN CHANGE.
Maybe it is not too late for the rest of us who are out there lost and scared, and can’t see change near us anymore.
Um well, I did think people could change so thats cool.
The thing that really caught my eye here was the logic.
Going from, “He changed” to “We all can change.” Is induction from one instance, and very bad.
But because of the stratigically placed ‘maybe,’ its actually:
He can change
ergo
its possible we all can change
Which I think is a valid inferance. However, I’m not sure how important it is that its a true story. In general, to know something is possible, is to know how something would occur in compatablility with the existing laws of nature. So if you could describe on a detialed level, how this could occur without ever actually seeing it, then I think you could make the same claim.
Of course the story is not that detailed, in the sense that it doesn’t describe the internal mechanisms. So perhapse in claiming it as real, you make up for the lack of detail, by entialing that the detail went on somehow.
Now knowing that you described things in such detail, moves me from thoughts about logic to thoughts about language. What does one mean by, “can change.” Does this description line up with that. You know, did he “change” in some positive way, or was he just conditioned.
Of course this is all stuff your probably not that intrested, but I do thank you for your post. I did contemplate it a good 10 minutes for its structure.
I see what you are saying but you are missing the main factor. There is no such thing as a being that knows ultimate truth except for God. He knows what is going on in his internal structure and God does but I don’t. As human beings we always lack a portion of truth and it is easy for us to judge others on the basis of their actions but we don’t know their intent. Many people do wrong thing but many people also have fucked up lives in the background and all we see are the things they do and not their life and background and their emotional well-being. It would be pointless for me try to add more detail to the story because if I got into it on a deep emtional level I would lie because I don’t know the truth. I don’t know what went on inside his head. All I know is he changed for the positive. If he can change then we can all change someday. Can doesn’t mean have to but still CAN is a possibility and it proves that there is chance for improvement in this life. Life doesn’t have to be this sad, lonley, negative thing. It can be good and it can be better than what it is if you make it better. If you put in time and effort you can make it happen and defeat your own demons
I think your story is grounded in faith… It reeks of it.
Maybe what is so amazing is that after 6 years, you have finally changed.
Maybe you are finding your faith.
Violhence wrote: “The moral of the story is that if you got something in your past, and it is holding you back from having that future that you always wanted, it is time to let that shit go.”
This is pure speculation when it comes to your friend, but seems much more like actuality if you were saying that about yourself. After all, he has kept himself in check for 6 years and you are only seeing it now.
There were times when I was living on nothing but faith and I sought people who had faith in me… When I came across those who didn’t, I just maintained as much faith in myself as I could.
There is no guarantee in faith, but faith itself…
I mean no disrespect by this. I realize things about myself all the time through my reaction to others. It is a good thing.
Of course, I may just be speculating, but thought I’d suggest another possibilty…
A. it is very somewhat hard to notice that a proper change is due, i.e. not dealing with problems the same way. However it is even harder initiating those changes.
B. “just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to” that is a quote that has been with me for a while, (by no means it means that i follow it) and i know that quote all too well. When one has tramendous power of some situation it is always good that he is able to analyze it and make the best decision. In this case this guy realized that if he had swung back he would have angered the spics, and the gang war would start again and end up with him dead.