The Power of Goodbye

Is avoidance of one's enemies the right course of action? I have no real answer, but I do have my own perspective on the subject, which I have come to only after profound tragedy and suffering.

To begin with, if you ever find yourself asking this question, then you likely also find yourself stuck squarely between a proverbial rock and a hard place, as I was all those years ago. And it likely feels as if you have no decent options available.

Morally speaking, when the path of tranquility is unavailable to a person, then they should probably instead be choosing the path that affords both them and those around them the least amount of misery, and the least amount of agony, both within and without.

To that end, consider the following: the person or people who are mistreating you are obviously doing you no favors. That much should be self-evident. You are likely better off without their toxic feelings and behaviors eroding at the boundaries of your sanity.

But what might also come as a surprise to a youthful soul is that the deviant ways of one's enemies are likely not helping them either. With age comes recognition of the wisdom of karma, and the realization that we all reap what we sow. What goes around comes around, regardless of who we are or what we are doing. The penalties may be a long time in coming, but they do invariably come.

So in a way, by preventing a person from hurting, wounding, or killing you, they too are being helped. In particular, they are being saved from the distant yet atrocious personal consequences of their own misbehavior.

In this way the policy of distance and avoidance can be seen as a universally healthy approach when those close to you are doing you egregious harm. Again, it is not without its own repercussions, but with time it often reveals itself to be the best option available to a beleaguered soul.

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