Montresor in The Cask of Amontillado, Emma Carstairs in The Dark Artifices, Hamlet in Hamlet… We all know legends, myths, and novels about all kinds of revenge schemes. Those revenge stories might as well as develop a brand new genre to categorize themselves. One thing to note is that usually none of them end well.
It’s reasonable to describe our lives as books. None of our own stories completely falls into a single category, but it’s really crucial in which perspective are we looking at our experiences.
I believe that revenge itself is not a bad thing. It’s how a particular kind of people see as a form of justice. However, it is VERY important how you handle the emotions that come with seeking revenge. Like most things in life, nothing is black and white, but shades of gray. It totally depends on the situation. Therefore, you should consider these things to sort out some thoughts:
What is your intention?
A healthy intention is very important. Revenge is not necessarily right or wrong, but your intention decides if it’s ethical to people’s common sense. Your intention shouldn’t be inflicting harm to yourself or others because violence never resolves problems.
What is your goal?
What do you get by revenge? How are you benefitted? Will revenge really make you happier? Sometimes revenge doesn’t work because we could never expect everyone we met to like us and obey us. We avenge but at the same time, we turn people against us and establish new nemesis.
What is your mindset?
Are you doing this with hatred? With jealousy? With pleasure? Out of all things to consider, your mindset is the most important. Attitude and perspective shift what we see and shape who we are completely, just like what this beautiful Haiku says:
If you ask me what is the best way(s) of revenge, I’d say that it’s actually quite simple. There are only two kinds of revenge: make the person’s life miserable while yours isn’t much better, or live better yourself and make them feel even more jealous.
I am encouraging you here to choose the first option. If you do, you are living yourself; if you choose the other, you are wasting precious time living for the person that you seek revenge on.
You should also think about this: doesn’t it mean that you are just the same as the person you hate if you treat them the way they treated you? Is the so-called “justice” shaping us into the person we least want to become?
To be clear, I am not trying to convince you to agree to my point, but again, there may be tons of things that you want to be philosophical about before plotting your glory revenge.