Most of us were brought up with the belief that if we were good, we would be rewarded and good things would happen to us. However if we were bad, we could expect that life would somehow punish us.

That may be a sound moral lesson to teach children; unfortunately it has nothing to do with reality. Our actions have consequences. Most of the time there will a price to pay for unacceptable behavior but there are no guaranteed that good behavior will in any way protect us against misery and heartaches.

This is in no way an indictment against a good moral lesson but it is a wakeup call to reality. If being good and nice is not a reward in itself, there are absolutely no guarantees that it will be rewarded otherwise.

Bad things can be avoided by being smart and wise and not by being good and nice. If truth were told, there is some truth to the adage that says that nice guys finish last. Now, that does need some explanation.

There is a huge difference between having and following a strong moral code and being good. A strong moral code is a trait of character whereas being good implies having a good disposition.

In a professional life, having a strong moral code is always an asset however the tendency to be overly nice and good can be a serious liability. The business world is not ruled by sentiments. It is ruled by good judgment and a sense of fairness.

With good judgment and fairness, equity rules. When sentiments rule, chaos and disruptions are bound to happen. Again, this may sound harsh but it’s the reality that we have to live with.

That being said, it must be added that, if being good is done for the sake of being good, and it does not interfere with good judgment and a sense of fairness, it can bring a tremendous sense of satisfaction and personal happiness.

It is said that no good deed will go unrewarded. That may be true and it probably is. But being good to prevent bad things from happening to us simply is not sound and mature judgment.

When bad things happen to us, and they will, it’s not a sign that we’re being punished for something bad that we did. It is just the Universe unfolding as it should. We are all part of the grand scheme of things, most of which we cannot understand. So it is not for us to pass judgment on the value of life’s vagaries and caprices.

In many cases, what seemed to be major catastrophes at the time, turnout to be blessings in disguise. We can only view events with limited lenses. It is only with hindsight that the true nature of those seemingly bad events can be disclosed.

We have limited control over our ultimate faith. Nothing that we can say or do will protect us completely from bad experiences. However, when so called “bad luck” happens, we should certainly not see that as being a form of punishment for past bad deeds. It probably has nothing to do with faults of our own.

What we can do though, is to try to learn from those regretful incidents and do whatever that we can to grow as a result the hindsight that it has given us.

Being a good and caring person has its own inherent reward. It may not prevent the bad but it will enhance the good. So, let’s live by the golden rule and hope for the best.

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