Ethical Dilemma

As we grow up, we encounter more and more ethical dilemma.

In the boarding canteen, when I took the last two watermelons left in the fridge, I thought about others who were going to come for dinner later. I decided to leave the last for others.

Well, I could have taken both, at least I know the watermelon will be eaten. Its sacrifice is well appreciated. I never know if there will anyone taking the last watermelon that I have left. It could have been thrown away because no one wanted it.

Nonetheless, I decided to leave the last for others. 

I realised different people have different moral threshold. 

Taking the previous example, some might not even think about saving for others. 

Viewing it from a moral lens, you can say they are selfish and call them names. 

However, I'd like to take it as "they did what they did" and "others" just slipped their mind at that point in time. 

We have those moments that we think about ourselves, our loved ones and forget about "others".

Those who think about "others" more often are people who have a higher moral threshold as compared to those who constantly just think of themselves.

So where do we draw the lines?

Is it better to have a higher morality threshold?

Why do we need to think about others?

Personally, I believe in offering a helping hand, loving people like loving myself and building relationships to construct meaning and purpose in life. 

"Death ends a life, not a relationship", Morrie told Mitch in Tuesday with Morrie.

We were all given life when we were born but at the end of the day, we will cease to live. Life is fair in this aspect as all life comes to an end.

Death brings wealth, fame, assets and all material aspect of life to the grave because we cannot enjoy them anymore.

However, a relationship continues after death. A relationship that ended with death never really began.

You will never forget how the person makes you feel, how the person will advice you if you were to face problems, how the person has impacted your life and how the person has held your hand through all obstacles. His/her spirit will stay with you as long as you live.

Therefore, building relationships that are based on faith and trust is important because we all need people whom we can trust. We need to reach out to people as well as let them into our lives.

Values and conviction like these help shape my moral threshold.

I can never tell where I should draw the line because many times, it's the matter of intuition and the heart. I did what I did because at that point in time I thought that was the right thing to do.

Reflection of oneself thus become more important because what one did at one point in time might not be right. (Right is relative here) Constant reflection helps us to develop different perspectives, understand ourselves better (from what we did), shape our principles and turn ourselves into a better person.

As we grow, we carry with us the moral threshold that becomes more and more distinct through constant reflection over the years.

This has large implication in our future, be it career, marriage or relationships with others.

A person who is self-centred should not be a doctor whose objective is often to safe lives.  

Businessman whose objective is usually to maximise profits often has a different moral threshold as compared to caretakers.

Constant reflection of one's action helps one to understand oneself better. From there, wisely choose and envision your future.

At the end of the day, you cannot bring wealth and fame with you, why don't you build on something that doesn't end with your death but lasts as long as other people live?