I think it is safe to say there is always a time in every persons life when they feel like they are at the end of their rope. A time when someone feels like they have failed God, others, and even their very selves. In this instance you feel like a villain through and through, plotting to destroy your own happiness and to destroy the world of others. It is as if all hope is lost and you suddenly come to the radical conclusion that “I might be the villain of this story”(http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/14794535-the-borrower). It can become a vicious cycle of choosing to give into the ‘inner villain’ inside you or fighting to be good with seemingly no avail. We must remember, however, that no one is predestined to be a villain. It is a choice that must be made. Nonetheless it is a dangerous choice, for once you embrace villainy “you feed the madness and it feeds on you” (http://villainquoteoftheday.tumblr.com/post/79822045789/you-feed-the-madness-and-it-feeds-on-you-you).
As human beings we are not born a hero or villain. I’m sure we have all seen it happen on television shows or in movies, the horrible villain commits grave atrocities, but is redeemed by the end of the dramatic climax. In the end this does make for a great story to present to an audience, but at some point we must wonder if this is relevant to the real world? Could this realistically happen to us, the normal people of everyday life? Well as Former-First-Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “in the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility”(http://www.finestquotes.com/author_quotes-author-Eleanor%20Roosevelt-page-0.htm). The choice to be a villain or even a hero isn’t a sudden momentary choice, like that of the angels’ when choosing whether to follow God or satan at the begging of time. The choice to be a villain or a hero, to act good or evil, is one we must make with every action that we make and breath that we take. That choice is the whole point of our life; it is what makes us inherently human.
We must not allow ourselves to fall into despair simply because we ‘slipped up’ or because we momentarily failed and gave into selfishness or heartlessness. In truth, the the moment a person thinks they are a villain is the moment that it becomes a reality. All people will agree that humanity is equally capable of great good and great evil. All one has to do is look at the Holocaust and Auschwitz to be filled with horror for the great abominations humanity is capable of creating. At the same time, however, the ability to walk the elderly woman across the street, give food to the starving man in the park, aid the homeless, and raise a child show us some of the simplest yet greatest things humanity is capable of. For those of you that have seen ABC’s Once Upon a Time you all know that Regina, or the ‘Evil Queen’, is one of the main characters on the show. You also would know that her back-story shows she was originally a very kind and caring person, before she was blinded by her anger and hatred, after being betrayed by those she loved. She became the evil queen by choosing to embrace the stone cold heart of a villain. As the story lines progress you come to find she is slowly redeeming herself, for love of her son, which causes you to wonder side will win, the Evil Queen, or Regina? There is the potential for a ‘Regina’ and an ‘Evil Queen’ in all of us, the question we must ask ourselves every day of our lives is which character will we choose to become today? Will we choose to be the best hero we can possibly be or the most dastardly of villains? For in all reality you make the choice of who you will become. Will you be a hero today or will you become your worst villain?
“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same”
Corey Louis
