What kind of things are associated with a good name? If you were to make a list of ten or twenty items that characterized a good name, what would it look like?
No seriously, take a moment to do this and then reflect on some of them.
Is one of them honesty? Integrity maybe? Usually we like to think that a good name is associated with these things. Are they what came to mind for you…. perhaps something similar like ‘upstanding’ or ‘moral’?
While a “good name” is accustomed to having these words to describe it, there are a few things we leave out when we simply focus on the “good” part.
So, what’s in a name?
Just a name…. Have you heard any names where you’ve thought that maybe the person associated with it has defied the odds. Meaning that there is destiny in a name and if one’s life lines up to be what it is supposed to be based on their name then , no surprises. But sometimes we find that rare instance when someone doesn’t turn out like their family or name suggests. Maybe they make a decision to do something different.
Difference in Kindness
In a culture where we’re conditioned to try to keep a good name, a good image, we at times do it at the risk of being unkind. We may not realize it at first, but in an effort to build or save our “good name,” we may be damaging others. Unknowingly, we could be belittling another’s esteem, reputation, or life.
To be different is to embrace kindness. The sort of kindness that challenges us and others to excel. To go beyond what our name might say of us and into the realm of the unknown. Risking certainty for something more. We all make mistakes. And what was thought to be true of us one day, could change the next. But this… kindness… this is what will be remembered with or without the good in front of our names.
Yet Good for Something
So, what is your brand of kindness? Once we know the answer to this, we can at least make our name good for something. It may not be in the way we like to think of good, but it will be usable, employable, even necessary when it matters. And isn’t that what counts?
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