There has been a series of characters in popular movies and television that can be seen as archetypes. Andrea “Andy” Sachs in the Devil Wears Prada, Susan “Rita” White in Educating Rita, and Diane Chambers in Cheers to name a few. These characters are striving to be, or even claiming to be, intellectuals. And in their climb to this vaunted status, they start looking down on those lesser mortals for their vulgar concerns such as wearing the latest fashion, or how their hair is done, or their achievements in sports. After all they have attended college, have forced themselves to sit through all of Mozart’s Figaro, and have read at least the Cliff Notes on James Joyce’s Ulysses. They drink wine instead of common beer, know what to think, are never seen without their Mensa pin, and sometimes you need a dictionary or Google Translate to follow the stream of consciousness in their conversations. Surely their intelligence gives them a depth those poor shallow fools who always obsess over their looks or physical attributes could ever hope to achieve.

They fail to see that the intellect is just as shallow as the physical. Yes, your body will sag and age, but so will your mind. Eventually, both will fade and betray you leaving you as the shell of what you once were. In the end what you looked like or could do physically or mentally means nothing. John Bunyan understood this when he had the hero of Pilgrims Progress be attended on his journey not by wealth, physical strength, or intellect. Instead, it was just his good deeds. In the end it’s wiping a tear from a child’s eye, sitting with a grieving mother, giving a meal to starving stranger, and giving tough love to a troubled teenager that really matters. It’s your goodness of spirit and your character, not your intelligence, that gives you depth.

#Character, #GoodDeeds