Definition: Good Person

Good Person:  Someone who does the best they can with what they've got.

Who then, by definition, is a good person?  Everyone.  From the begging pan-handler, the obtuse store clerk, the cheating spouse, the ambitious student, the immoral serial killer, the wealthy CEO, the selfish superstar and the powerful diplomat, to Mother Theresa and Jesus Christ himself; all humans, all flawed, all doing their best with the resources available to them in this Human life. 

What are these resources?  Forget material resources like money; our true resources are the characteristics that we were either born with, or those we picked up sometime during our life. Though not conspicuous, these resources are our weaknesses, our character defects.  All strength is born from weakness. 
[Please consider that statement; everyone must realize that truth for themself.]

We are all equally capable of committing each of the finite number of human mistakes, defects, sins, etc.  What distinguishes us, however, is that we each take on certain sets of defects as habits.  I, for example, am not in the habit of lying, but I am prone to conceitedness.  Some defects are common and obvious like stubbornness, judgment, vanity, deceit, rage and promiscuity.  Others like killing, stealing and acute drug/alcohol addiction are less common and therefore mistakenly seem worse.  Still others are extremely subtle such as obsessive thinking, compulsive speech, as well as negative self-image and self-talk.  These flaws are especially dangerous as they are so engrained into our Human psyche we do not see them as defects, and the cause of our suffering.  It is critical to realize that each of these defects, along with the myriad of others, are nothing more than habits of our Minds and Bodies.  The great news is that all habits can be broken; the bad news is that it takes a lot of work to first become aware of these troublesome habits, then actively set to breaking the cycle.

'But Summer, they are just such a horrible person, they've done such awful things! How can I possibly see them as a Good Person?'  Simple; compassion.  Know that you, along with that piece-of-shit Human you hate, comes from the same stock.  You both have made, and will continue to make, the very same mistakes only at different times throughout your lives and to varying degrees of severity.

Ok get ready, this may sting a bit; now turn this definition inward.  Are you satisfied with your life? Are you generally unhappy; moody, anxious or depressed? Are you doing your best? Are YOU a Good Person?  If you either said 'No,' or your inner voice is currently stone-walling you, you have some work to do my friend; hard work at that.  And for God's sake stop thinking, 'but the people that said Yes are probably just lying to themselves!' Don't worry about them, worry about YOU.

I know this sounds incredibly harsh, but these are the questions that can affect real change in your life, and initiated my own transformation.  Through exhaustive self-reflection, confusion and raw determination, I've begun to convert constant anxiety, and severe mental and general health issues, to a more relaxed approach to life's perpetual and beautiful changes.  I see both the silver lining of happiness that surrounds my life, and that I am, in fact, a Good Person.