Saturday, June 21, 2008

Question of the Day

If you do the right thing, but deeply resent it, does it count?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

no

Jenny Davidson said...

Yes, but it is not good for the soul to be in this situation repeatedly (or, in alternate vocabulary, it deforms the personality), so that it also comes with an imperative to reconceive in future circumstances the play of external obligation and internal temperament. You know that I think it is often inadvisable to do these high-cost things, because often there are lower-cost things one might do which are equally useful, or someone else might be able to do the same thing at lower psychological cost. However sometimes we really are in situations where the right thing must be done, with absolute and utter fury and resentment, repeatedly and over a considerable period of time, and in this case it is necessary just to suck it up & find some suitable way afterwards of purging resentment, for sake of self and others!

Bette said...

yes!

it's okay to not enjoy doing the right thing, or be pissed about it. come on! but doing it anyway? that's what counts.

we're just little, lost and finding our way

Kelly said...

I have mixed feelings about it. Sometimes it's just unavoidable -- the thing that must be done and the fury and hurt which accompany the doing. But sometimes it's best to walk away rather than get sucked into that vortex. But not always. Often we just have to suck it up and do what we have to do and feel what we feel.

so yes and no and yes and no.

landismom said...

yes

Unknown said...

Yes.

Libby said...

I'm loving these comments! I came over just to say "yes," and find myself overwhelmed by thoughtful qualifications. But, yes, it counts. It's a pain, but the thing, it is done.

Unknown said...

of course, it counts. As the many comments say, now you need to purge yourself of the fury. And when you achieve that it counts too.