Choices

We must all make decisions in life.

We must all choose paths between truth and lies, whether to say or do the right thing or the wrong thing, whether to be honest or deceitful, to stay on the up-and-up or do things which are illegal.  We do this often - daily, for some of us.

We go about our daily lives as we choose, doing things which do or don't fall within societal approval.  We choose based upon our morals, values, goals, whether we think we can achieve as we have set out to do if we go a certain way, and whether or not our choice may cause consequences or other side-effects that we deem we can accept or live with as costs for achievement.

We grow, we learn, we evolve, and our choices can become very complex in reasoning.

As such, these choices are not always exclusively toward light nor darkness, and thus may not agree with each other on an apparent level.  Some decisions are business-based, others are situational.  Some are honest about their wrongdoings.  Some lie to protect others or produce results which will eventually be positive, feeling that deceit is acceptable to meet their goals.

Our decisions do not always agree with our morals and values, either.  In desperation, an individual can make a decision they would not normally make.

Either way, when one does something that is unacceptable to others, disapproval is shown.  Depending on the individual, the situation, and the actual decision, or what is known or evidenced about it, this disapproval can be extremely strong, and can potentially act as a catalyst, regardless of whether or not the individual is punished in some way.

And regardless of whether the individual is punished, if the catalyst - the resulting reactions of those in disapproval - is strong enough, it can have only one of two results:
1) The individual's eyes are opened to the severity of what they've done, or are at least being accused of, and it becomes clear to them that the path is, or would be, incorrect - that the path is a true, grave error, leading to perceived darkness, and that they must turn away from that path.  People who want to change desperately enough can achieve it, possibly in this way.
2) The individual makes a deliberate decision to permanently cross the moral event horizon in that case, continuing their actions regardless of potential retribution.  They can turn to the darkness deliberately without nary a care in the world what happens to themselves or others as a result of their actions.

Some individuals are lucky enough to be presented such a catalyst without actually being punished for their actions.  Threats of it, perhaps, and other glimpses of what could happen to them, but no actual punishment occurs.  They are then free to make the above decision on their own terms after being given some time to think, and can eventually clearly demonstrate which decision they have made.

Other individuals are not so lucky.  Even if they see and choose the light - the first choice - they are punished for what they have done, with no ability to show that they have had a change of heart for the duration of the punishment, with all of the additional negative publicity that is affected by those who know the individual is being punished.  It could be days, weeks, months, or even years before their decision is even allowed to be demonstrated.

Even if these are the only two possible outcomes, the original situation complicates the matter of reaction.  Is it rightful, or an incorrect accusation?  As said above, indeed, was a deceit used to benefit everyone?  Was a truth told to hurt someone else?  Why was the decision made?  Did a catalyzing situation result which gave the individual a clear-cut opportunity to make up their mind whether what they did was worth it?  If so, where will their decision fall?  Do they indeed deserve punishment after all, or can they be allowed to be let go, trusting that they've had a definitive change of heart?

The world is complicated, and it can be extremely difficult to discern a solution.

There are, however, those who have a good eye for spotting things such as truth, lies, business arrangements, and peoples' natures.  If perceptive people look into the situation, they are eventually going to figure out whether you were honest or deceitful, and why you have done as you have.

Unfortunately, that takes time, and the masses generally do not have the capacity to make a properly-thought-out decision, and have a tendency to jump to conclusions speedily, whether they are correct or not in their decision, or even the reasoning which brought them to their decision.  If you even breathe in the wrong direction, you may be punished for something you didn't even consider doing.

That makes this world a place where decision-making is both important, and dangerous.  It can be risky, it can be a gamble.  If you do a thing that would meet with disapproval in general, perhaps you'll get lucky a few times; nobody will notice, or those who do will either accept it (based upon their own morals and values), or turn a blind eye because they don't want to admit you've done something, or hope you won't do it again, or other reasons.  Rest assured, however, that all things you do which are unacceptable will eventually be found out and revealed; the truth always comes to light with enough time.

So at the end of the day, the question is, WHEN the transgressions you've made are revealed - because at some point, they WILL be - will you be able to have had a history showing that you have changed since your wrongdoings?  If so, will you yet be brought to justice, or will those who would otherwise have you punished decide you've reformed on your own?  If you're brought forth for what you have done, it is doubtful that you will be shown any mercy at that point.

It is possible that the hassle of needing to *bother* with procedure of enacting punishment will dissuade punishment proponents from actually *doing* what they say, but the likelihood of that is probably slim, depending on the action.

Either way, it is not wise to leave such things to chance, and other peoples' decisions.  Because when what you have done is discovered, you do not get to choose whether you receive punishment; that is for others to decide, and as mentioned above, many individuals would decide to have you punished without much more than batting an eye, as you are wasting their time, have in their eyes "probably done something wrong, so they probably deserve punishment," and they just want to send you away so that they can continue drinking their morning coffee in peace because either their brain can't handle complicated decision-making properly, or they just don't want to bother with it.

What I implore is that where a darkness-imbued decision could be made, there is always the option to choose light.  There is always an upstanding decision that could be made instead.  Even if one falls to darkness once, or even several times, if one can be shown what they are causing, or the cost of their actions, it could be a catalyst that leads them to turn their back on the darkness, even where it was difficult to do so before.

I allude much to "light" and "darkness" in this article, and I do believe the real world, at least as applies to this piece, has all of us who are in some state between light and darkness, much as in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  As Sora does, I too believe that there is light somewhere in every heart.  Some of us hold on to our light firmly, and have little trouble keeping the darkness at bay.  Some of us are struggling with our darkness; we may be actively attempting to fight back, or perhaps wanting to fight back, but uncertain if we are capable of winning.  And there are others who have succumbed to, or even embraced, their darkness, having chosen to forsake their light altogether.

Watch for those who are clearly struggling with their darkness - those who seem to know what is right and good, but are having difficulties sticking with it due to desperation, depression, or feeling they have no other choice.  Some of us are in more danger than others; some need little help, where others are close to defeat simply because they're exhausted by their struggle and have little fight left to give, and require greater help or a catalyst (be it punishment-based or not, depending on the nature of the darkness and the state of their struggle against it).  Do not put them down or discourage them, as they have not yet given up completely.  Encourage them to look for their light, to find their way out of their darkness - because you can help these struggling souls find their light once again; after all, their very struggle means they are already attempting to seek their light - they're just having a difficult time getting away from the darkness enough to find it.  And if you - or a catalyst - empowers them enough that it gives them the strength to finally conquer their darkness, they will be all the stronger for it, having been there, and having seen what it has done to themselves and others, having the will to hold on to their light strongly enough that they need little help keeping the darkness at bay anymore.

Anyone can defeat darkness.

It just takes the right choices and the right motivation.