Thursday, October 16, 2014

Nobody Should Be Above Criticism.

In life, there is always going to be a person or group of people that we pledge our loyalties to. Often times, loyalty is normally attributed to our family members, however, there are also friends and people that we meet throughout our lives that we deem worthy of being loyal to. In essence, the true meaning of loyalty can be viewed as something universal; not only limited to family and friends, but it can also be given to nearly anything regardless if it's a brand, entertainer, or city. The concept of having loyalty or loyal individuals in our lives is a crucial aspect of life, as we always desire to have those people that will be in your corner no matter what life brings. With all of that said, I think there are too many of us allowing people to get away with certain behaviors that could be considered as wrong, but because of our loyalty to these people, we tend let them off the hook so to speak. This is another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'.

What's good people? Hope all is well with everyone. It's me Bradrick coming back at you again after another long hiatus. I know my being on these hiatuses seems to becoming a common theme, and I apologize for that. It's just that sometimes in life, there are other priorities that must be taken care of ahead of others. At any rate, I'm back again with another topic that has been on my mind as of late. For some of you, this particular topic may not make a lot of sense, or you may view my thoughts on it as being wrong. There are some people that believe there's no in between when it comes to being loyal to something or someone, and if that's your belief, that's totally fine with me. While I believe that there is some truth to that, I also believe that no one single person should be above criticism, or being called out for certain things they do.

Picture this scenario; you've been friends with someone for many years, and you both are extremely loyal to one another. Whenever you need each other to be there, it's not even a question. You both have a tight-knit, close relationship with each other. Now lets say that your friend does or says something that you disagree with. I'm not going to go in-depth and come up with something that the person could have done, but lets just say it's something bad and deep down you disagree with what they done. Maybe something this friend said doesn't necessarily align with your personal beliefs. As a friend you want to have their back and give them support, but on the other hand, you want them to know how disappointed you are with them. What's worse is that you know if you reveal to them how you really feel about their actions, you know that they'll lash out at you and say that you're not being a real friend to them. Get where I'm going with this?

This is a dilemma that we all find ourselves in from time to time. The situation of having the choice to do what we feel is right in our eyes vs. supporting something or someone that we feel loyal to. Well from my perspective, and this is a perspective that I've developed in the last few years or so, nobody; regardless of who it is, should be above criticism. See in most people's eyes, being loyal to someone means supporting them no matter what they do, even if it's something that we don't agree with. No matter how close you are to someone, disagreements are bound to happen eventually. I believe it's very important to be loyal to those we feel are worthy of having our loyalty, however, being a truly loyal person also means having the ability to call out those we care about on the things we feel they're doing wrong, even if they don't necessarily like it. We've gotten to a point where we allow others to use the word "loyalty" as a handicap to make people feel bad for saying what they truly feel.

This is a trend that we're seeing a lot of in politics, sports, and many other areas of life. Now in my opinion, lets use a good example of what loyalty truly means. One situation that I can think of is while we were growing up as children, didn't our parents get on us whenever we done something wrong? It didn't mean that they didn't love us or care, it just meant that they were trying to teach us right from wrong. Even as adults, the learning process will always continue, and sometimes it takes a close friend or relative's perspective to call us out on certain things. It doesn't always mean that they're not a real friend, nor that they're not being loyal to us. Criticism can sting sometimes, and I'm in no way saying that anyone should be constantly criticized. All I'm saying is that regardless of how close we are to someone, nobody should be above criticism if it's necessary. Loyalty has nothing to do with, nor should it be limited to not criticizing the actions of someone if they're wrong. You can be loyal to anything, but that doesn't mean you have to agree or co-sign all the time. Again, regardless of who it is, in the end, right is right and wrong is wrong.

Alright, I'm going to go ahead and sign off for this edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. Like always, I appreciate those of you who stop by and read these posts. As with all of my posts, everything that I mentioned applies only to myself and how I strive to live. I'm in no way saying that my perspective or way of thinking is how anyone else should think. If any meaning and understanding is gained from this, that's always an added bonus. Well I hope everyone has a great rest of the week, and I'll see you in the next post. Peace!