DailyBlog : Right Thing For The Wrong Reason?

** The first two books in my six part dystopian series have officially made their way out into the world! Check them out!

For the sake of blogging and self-exploration and contemplation, I’ve been slowly making my way through answering questions from this list.

Today’s question:  Is it ever right to do the wrong thing?  Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

When I was a kid, I loved this movie that was very, very old even in my childhood called National Velvet. In it, the mother of the main character says to her husband, “Is it better to do the wrong thing for the right reason, or the right thing for the wrong reason? That will be a debate until the end of time.”

Although that’s probably true, I know where I stand. Reasons are EVERYTHING. Your action is the final decision, the final choice, the final five minutes of a movie that has an hour and a half of footage that comes before it and its sole purpose is to lead up to those last five minutes. I honestly believe that your reasons for doing things say everything about who you are, so much more than the thing you actually do.

It’s right to do the wrong thing (according to who, though, is the wrong thing, the wrong thing? That’s another question…) if your reasons are noble. I think it’s far less of a credit to you when you do the right thing for the wrong reason than the other way around. For example, doing charity work for the glory of the work instead of the only reason being truly in the service of others.

Yeah, I definitely believe that the reasons behind the things you do matter ten times more than the actual thing you do. I believe that if, as people, we encouraged others to share their reasons when they do something we don’t understand, we would all find it easier to have compassion for our fellow man, and the world would be a better, kinder, more peaceful place.