Yesterday I shared with you that my elderly ill aunt informed me that she was changing her will, and leaving everything to my crafty, drug-addicted, sister. I told you how I handled it with grace, and continue to believe that was the right way to go.

Yesterday's post was supposed to be my last one for awhile before I took one of my extended breaks from posting. I didn't know whether I would move to just commenting, or focus on writing on other platforms where I'm much more the "whale" than I've ever been here. It was part of a reaction to seeing the well-rewarded obviously AI-written posts, making me wonder why I was putting so much effort into writing original content that no one sees, hence the potential break.

Yesterday I spent a few hours surfing around Hive and viewing posts from people that I knew of before the widespread advent of ChatGPT. I knew how they wrote before that, so it's easy to tell who's using it. It seems to be working out for them just fine on Hive, as there have been no ramifications for them reward-wise so far.

But I just couldn't see myself wringing any joy out of telling a computer program to write a post FOR me.

Not my style.

I recall reading about someone (a big name here on Hive), who shared about how when he was cluless about writing, he clung to this guy and LEECHED (his words), all of the knowledge about blogging and crypto from him. In the post he didn't thank him, honor him, or even name him. He said he followed this guy around, sucking all of the knowledge out of him, then discarded him when he was done.

I kept expecting to read the part where he thanked him, and possibly even shared some of his Hive earnings with him, but it never came. After all, without the crucial and timely help from that unnamed guy (you know, the one he leeched from), he likely never would have made it to being able to survive from his Hive earnings.

But there was nothing.

Today he enjoys the forbidden fruits of his parasitic efforts here on Hive. His posts are richly upvoted, and he lives comfortably in his country. But all is not well in the land of the parasite. Cracks are beginning to show. I've seen that whenever you receive ill-gotten gains, there's always, ALWAYS, a corresponding price to pay for it in the end. You might use (and discard) people, and be rewarded for it financially, but suffer bad health in return. The Universe is self-correcting like that over time. After all, even mighty Rome eventually fell...

While I've never had a lot of money or had posts that were regularly voted to 'Trending' on Hive, I have been blessed with good health, and I'm grateful for that.

And all of this (including the revelation from my aunt), got me to thinking about what it means to be a good person.

I've heard that all my life that I have a "good heart" as if that's something strange and rare. I almost feel like I'm some guy from a former age who's been dropped into the dog-eat-dog world of 21st century America.

Does anyone have a conscience anymore? Or am I one of a shrinking number of people with some sort of a moral center? How does a sister steal the inheritance of her own brother and feel nothing? It makes you wonder if something blasted a hole in the space where her heart used to be and shoved wadded up dollar bills in its place.

I've been getting heat from some family members for not pushing back against my aunt to make her feel guilty and somehow strong-arming her to get her to reverse her decision.

Sorry to disappoint you folks, but I did the exact right thing. If you've been reading me for even a little bit, you know that I would never respond in that way. I'm one of those people who believes in a higher power, and that there's an existence after we shuffle off this mortal coil.

When my beloved aunt passes, my sister will sell everything quickly so that she can use the proceeds to get high. Some here expected me to be bitter, but I'm not. My aunt was so gentle with me, and so relieved at my gentle response in return. "It's OK" I told her. "It's your property, and I'm fine with whatever you want to do with it." I hugged her to let her know everything was all right.

The way you live your life while you're alive matters. So damn the torpedoes and live it well.

Part II

However, she STILL wants me to give her an open casket funeral. Get this: She wants to be completely topless, wearing a pair of cherry-red crotch-less panties and her you-know-what showing. With her hand across her chest giving everyone the middle finger. lol! Can you imagine? She's serious too! I told her that would likely be considered 'abuse of corpse,' but you gotta hand it to the old broad, she really knows how to make an exit! :)

However the title of this piece gets to the heart of the matter. While being a "good person" with a "good heart" feels good and may be the right thing to do, it sure as hell doesn't pay off for those of us that live that way.

The Bible says that we're building up rewards in Heaven and that's good, but it sure would be nice to have some of them dropped down to me from time to time while I'm still above ground! :)

When I speak to others like me I hear a similar story. Lots of good going out, and very little coming back in. Who knows, maybe the cosmos thinks that it would change our good nature if the Goddess of Fortune had the temerity to actually knock on our door.

Alas, we watch from afar as she saunters over to reward every ruthless psychopath in the neighborhood. I've often compared myself to one of those folks in an old-time movie standing on the dock waving a white handkerchief as friends sail off on a long-awaited world cruise.

We're always cheering someone else's success, but never experiencing it for ourselves.

You know what I mean?

That dangerous spirit of envy and jealousy never seems to infect our good hearts. I'm always happy when others find success, especially if they do it without ruthlessly hurting someone else in order to get there. "Bravo!" I say, "Good on you!" and all that jazz.

But it sure would be nice if... Juuust once...

You know the rest.

When I first read The New Testament, there was an account of the Apostle Paul asking God to remove some physical affliction that he had. Biblical scholars suggest that he may have had a large goiter near or on his face that could be seen which embarrassed him in public. His prayers went unanswered, and some think like the stutter that Moses endured (and yes, he did stutter), this was allowed in order to keep Paul humble in life, and it worked.

When it was time for his execution, Paul is said to have remarked that he had run the race of life and finished it well. So if he hadn't had that suspected goiter, he might have turned out a very different man than the one we know of now.

And so it may be for those of us born with a strong moral center and a sense of common decency. As for me, I'm happy in my own skin. I may have lost the inheritance I'd had since I was 10, because I wasn't willing to be ruthless in order to keep it. Take advantage of an ill, elderly woman with a touch of dementia? No way. I'd rather lose 100 houses than resort to that. Stealing from others poisons the heart, mind, and soul.

So if you're like me, keep doing what you do. Like Paul, run the race of life and finish it well. I've a feeling that something wonderful awaits us on the other side, and it'll be worth the sacrifices we've made to commit random acts of kindness in this life. :)