What is the importance of Character?
The definition of character is very complex that is it simply cannot be explained in one or two words. It is the combination of an individual’s thinking, behaviour and the overall personality along with the individual’s overall behaviour in the society.
The character of a person also involves how he interacts with different people who belong to different standard of living, gender, age, etc. This behaviour will tell the nature of that person and hence, show the character of that person.
All the above mentioned facts are very important facts and all these factors directly and indirectly contribute to how a person is looked up to in the society.
For example, if a person is very good in behaviour with others and very helpful and contributing freely for the welfare of the society, then he is automatically viewed as a respectable and good natured person.
The personality or the person is viewed as a good person and all his good characteristics are viewed under his character.
There is a well known saying or phrase by William Graham which explains the importance of character and how it is impossible to compare it with other materialistic facts of life.
When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
The above phrase can be interpreted easily and basically tells us that character is the measure of one’s morals and thinking. Therefore, when any one person loses his morals and proper thinking ability, then it will directly make that person a characterless person.
In the above mentioned phrase, the wealth that is money is a materialistic luxury and it can be earned again. When someone’s health is affected due to some disease or accident, he might still recover from it and lead aa normal life.
But once a person is labelled a person who lacks moral values and is characterless, it becomes a label for the lifetime. Once he is labelled as a characterless individual, no amount of hard work and regret will rub away the stain put up on his name.
This is how the society works, where a single mistake may it be a deliberate one or a mistake done unknowingly, the society will always blame the person for that one moment. Therefore, people should think before behaving in a certain manner also it is important to evolve according to the evolving period.
According to the Indian mentality, the time period in which we are living is the “kal yuga”. This means that this time will be witness to many monsters and corrupt officials. All this is true.
According to Indian culture and traditional teachings and rituals (sanskar), it is very much true that a person with loose morals and less self-control on his greed (may it be sexual or monetary) is a characterless person.
When does a person lose his character?
Character is a kind of personality trait and therefore, no one can predict when and how will a person lose his character. Whenever a person behaves unethically or in a way which may cause damage to the society, he will directly lose his character.
Now, when a person loses his character, how will one recognise that this person is unethical and characterless? It is not a situation where one person loses a part of his body which will highlight that he has lost something which is not recoverable.
For example, there is a person who is very respectable in the society and is known for his generosity and humble behaviour towards the betterment of the society. But in reality, if the person is not that generous and is pretending to be a good person for his own benefit (sexual and monetary) and to create a respectable image in the society.
Now, this person will definitely be greedy to achieve that image of good reputation in the society as soon as possible by contributing lesser to the society. When this act of his is caught by the society, his image and proper reputation is lost within a few seconds.
It takes many months and years to create a good image and reputation in the society but at the same time it will take less than 2 minutes for the same person to lose his reputation. This is when the society labels that person as a characterless person.
This is how the society works and then there will be some people who will use this loss of that person against him to create false rumours about him, his business or job, his attitude, etc. thus degrading that person further in the eyes of the society.
Now, when the person has lost his reputation, the society will see him a selfish person and will also label him with certain insulting labels. They might also go and start labelling his family for his wrong deeds even if they had no role in all this scene.
The person may then realise that he made a mistake and should seriously start being a humble man without being selfish for money, but now the society will not give him chance to improve and to show that he is regretting his deeds and wants to improve.
There are many such examples which will explain very well, how a person blinded by his own greed can cause his own destruction and it is well understood from the above mentioned example than once character is lost, all is lost. Every hard work, every sacrificing deed is forgotten just because of the blind greed and succumbing to it.
Therefore, people should learn to be happy in whatever they have and whatever they can achieve with the help of their own capabilities because, extra and blind greed can cost them their character.
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