Would you still do good especially if you've been cheated badly in the past?

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 Man is the strangest animal on this planet. Probably, we are the most selfish and egocentric animal. When someone behaves politely to us, we take it for granted that he/she is doing this because we are something especial or superior to him/her. Man licks the shoes of a powerful man who mistreats the former. On the other hand, man mistreats that person whom he finds weaker than him. This is the normal behavior of us. I am not saying that every person behaves the same, but it is our normal tendency to mistreat innocents and revere the powerful criminals.

I have been cheated badly by some people who were helped by me but it doesn’t stop me from helping others. I became more alert and tried to assess people before helping them. I am doing this because I believe in the power of goodness. We cannot make this world a place of happiness or make our life better, if we are filled with negative feelings like hatred, doubt, mistrust, fear etc. only positive thinking can change this world. One mistake cannot nullify other mistake. In order to amend our mistakes, we should change the things which made a thing worse.

I am not saying that we should forgive those who don’t want to understand the importance of goodness. I am not against capital punishment either. But, my point is that we should not take revenge from innocent persons. Suppose Mr. X cheated me. His action cost me a lot. I had to sustain a heavy loss because of him but why should I cheat Mr. Y for Mr. X’s misdoings? I should have punished Mr. X. What will I get if I mistreat Mr. Y? One may say that one is not treating Mr. Y badly but one is not ready to help Mr. Y either as one has seen what Mr. X did. In my opinion this behavior is not right because Mr. Y may be a good person who really needs your help. One is punishing an innocent person for the sins of Mr. X. Mr. X is enjoying while Mr. Y is being punished unnecessarily for his sins and crimes.

So, in my opinion refusing help to others for the misdeeds of some unscrupulous people should not be criteria to treat people. One should punish the exact person who committed the crime or a sin. Innocent people should not be mistreated on account of other person’s misbehavior. So, I will not stop doing good work, no matter how many times I am cheated by unscrupulous people. However, one should always be alert and assess the persons thoroughly before helping them. Precaution is better than the medication.