There’s not a lot of good uses for hatred, but I found 2 of them during the course of my life. In my 20s I took up smoking cigarettes, and 5-6 years later was able to quit, in part because I broke off the love part of that love-hate relationship ( at least long enough to let me quit ) … and now once or twice every 2-5 years, I might have a rollie ( rolling tobacco – perhaps containing whacky weed ), or I might have a cigar – but it’s very rare either way, and leaves me with no desire to re-take-up the habit.
The other good purpose I discovered, was earlier in life, but it took a lot longer to achieve the goal … perhaps it could be said the goal is achievable some other way ( without the hatred ), but if I’d discovered such a way, I’d have taken it … and perhaps also, the other possibilities were not available to me at that time for some variety of reasons. This purpose I put it to, was getting rid of my cowardice.
I’m not saying I don’t fear things, I certainly do … but courage does not exist in the absence of fear, it exists because of it … if you do not fear, then courage is not required. Cowardice however is the consistent failure to courageously face one’s fears, and as I watched myself exhibiting cowardly behaviour, yet unable to bring myself to do otherwise, I hated that experience of being paralysed by it, and I challenged myself over the years to overcome it.
So this is a brief post, a thought for the day … if you’re going to hate anything, commit yourself to defeating it … don’t hate something which has a positive aspect, instead separate those elements, and hate only the downside … direct your anger at defeating it, show no mercy, and be free of it.
In the case of defeating cowardice, you won’t be free of fear, but you’ll find courage, and be free of the paralysing effect of cowardice in the face of fear … or free of some other unacceptable response to fear, which leads you to demonstrate the least of your character.
This is not about hating yourself, it’s about hating a circumstance, and getting angry enough to change it … but directing that anger intelligently and rationally towards a positive outcome.