There are lots of things we can learn from our dogs. How to play, how to relax, how to live purely in the moment. But most importantly, we can learn a LOT about loyalty. There is a reason the dogs are called “Man’s Best Friends”. No other animal gets that designation. No other animal warrants that title. And really…no other animal lives up to it better.
That’s the next Heroic Trait…Dogness! :-) Nononono…it’s loyalty. And sadly…it’s a trait that is getting rarer and rarer in this world. Along with loyalty today, I’m going to talk about conviction. I think that they are related and compatible to each other.
Loyalty…we all KNOW what it is, but how would you define it? Unswerving devotion? Dedication?
How about Conviction? Can you define that one? A belief in something? Strong feelings about something?
How about if we define Loyalty as a feeling of attachment that is sacrificed for? Yeah…let’s go with that for now. And we can define Conviction as a strong belief that is sacrificed for.
Everyone in the world knows that loyalty, for the most part, is a thing of the past. The only place where loyalty is sometimes found is within the family unit. At that is getting rarer as well. Children are turning away from parents and siblings…husbands and wives from each other…even parents from children. What the hell is going on here??!! Why does it seem so difficult for people to feel loyalty towards each other?
Maybe it’s a lack of conviction? We have lost the belief in our fellow human beings. We have embraced the idea that the world is a bad place and the people in it are even worse. It seems that we are waiting and watching for the next knife in the back and even looking for our own opportunity.
It’s one of the worst pains that you can feel to be betrayed by someone that you feel loyalty towards. That’s why there are LOTS of cases where a spouse attacks or gets terrible revenge on an adulterer. It’s a wound that goes deep into your heart and core. Why? There are LOTS of ways that loyalty is betrayed and they all hurt, but why does this hurt so much more? I think it’s because we have a conviction that “family” would never do something like that. Would never betray us. Family stands together, right?
A betrayal of loyalty is ALWAYS more painful if it also involves a betrayal of our convictions. We hold our convictions to be true and the deeper the conviction, the more it is a part of who we are. So, a betrayal to our convictions can actually shake our core and how we see ourselves. Couple that with a betrayal of loyalties and most people crumble and don’t know what to do to save themselves. I think that we all have gone through something like this.
Something this powerful in our lives should be guarded like a great treasure, right? HA! If only we were that smart. It seems that the other side of the loyalty coin in the world today is the people that give their loyalty to anyone and everyone that passes them by. They are the ones that are constantly shocked when someone not worthy of their loyalty, betrays it.
Somewhere in the middle is the sane ground, as always. :-) I think that the strongest sense of loyalty comes from a root of conviction. When you believe in something strongly and are asked to support it with your own self, that loyalty is going to be hard to shake. It’s something that takes time to develop. Deep convictions are things that are built over time. No one has immediate deep convictions.
All legendary heroes excel at the loyalty and conviction traits. Even if they might stumble sometimes, they always come through in the end.
In a world like ours today, true loyalty is a rare find. Backed by solid convictions and a core that lives from the heart and soul, it is a lifeline that so many people can use. And the best thing about true loyalty is that it can build upon itself and being to tie people together. Families, neighbors, communities. All it takes is one person to find that true loyalty and give it to someone else. Someone that will appreciate it, and nurture it, and give it back. That’s the way it starts.
So?? What do you say? Think you’re ready for some true loyalty? I'm ready if you are. :-)
2 comments:
Dogness trait - I like that! =) Dogs are loyal because that is their nature, people usually think about it to determine whether it's a situation that, or a person who, inspires loyalty. What if it were in the nature of people to be loyal? I wonder how things might be different.
Loyalty is difficult. Because I can think of situations where doing the thing that is right and best for a person may end up seeming a betrayal to them. However, that doesn't change the fact that the person was actually being loyal.
We often accuse people of beign disloyal because they didn't do what we wanted them to do, or because they didn't support us even when we were acting in an evil manner.
That isn't Loyalty, that's being a boot lackey. Loyalty means we do our best to keep people on the path we know they were born for regardless of whatever they are doing that is wrong. It may even mean opposing what they are doing but still standing by them in friendship (or love). Even after they have shunned you for being "disloyal".
Bu the same token, when someone does the right thing then we stand by them regardless of the popularity or that thing.
I believe it is the nature of man to be loyal. We all crave it. However, as we allow gadgets and things and lust and other distractions to overwhelm our lives, we lose sight of that, and are willing to sacrifice everything to have those things. That is how loyalty slowly becomes an issue and then dies.
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