"Lionel said to me that hell is the point where the person you are meets the person you could’ve been. I’m forever changed by that."

Who is Lionel, and who did he say this to?

Come to find out, this phrase is all over social media, with meme after meme.

I am not changed by this.
I am provoked, curious, and irked.

The person you could have been = the better person you failed to be?

“The definition of hell is on your last day on earth, the person you became meets the person you could have become.”

— Viola Davis

That's one way to see it. Is that how you see it?

source: imageproxy.ifunny.co

"We could have done worse"

is how I see it. It's my favorite consolation.
If it's lame, hey, I could think of lamer excuses for not being a better, more exemplary, more productive, accomplished, and marvelous human being.

Hell might be meeting the BETTER PERSON I failed to be.

All morning, weeding, contemplating, praying, and pondering this meme, I kept thinking: What if we flip it into something positive?

May we not rejoice at the person we did not become? The person we could have been might be a drunken, destructive derelict, the wrecker of homes and families, the wreaker of havoc.

We could all be wonderful and exemplary and inspirational, but instead we get one roughly Mother Teresa per generation, one Luther Burbank, one George Washington Carver. The others are unsung. Like Jedediah Smith, unsung hero of the frontier, though he ranks with Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Lewis and Clark, and others we do remember.

Rather than use my brain and articulate my own thoughts, I have found a much-younger blogger who sums it all up quite well.



Thank you Anthony!

Truth: You Are Always Good Enough (No Matter What You Achieve — Or Don’t)

Who you are is always good enough, even now. Sure, we can learn more skills, be more patient, or get in better shape, but who were are as a fundamental human being is fine the way it is.
But the more we try to be “good enough” to compensate for believing that we aren’t, the more we’re going to drive ourselves nuts to live up to (or surpass) those imaginary expectations.

To all the unsung heroes.
To all the good, quiet, decent people who will not make history.
To all the ordinary citizens who might have done extraordinary things -- or who might have become deranged shooters, career criminals, drug addicts, terrorists, or shiftless bums who never did an honest day's work.

Ok who has the AI or the tech skills to flip this lion image....

Eh. Close enough.
(Remember, may standards are low: I could've done worse!)

.... Who is "Lionel"?

He's a really nice guy,

and he relayed this definition of hell to his girlfriend's sister.

Every one of us could be BETTER.

But I would like to say to those squirming in a hell of self recrimination,
You are good enough!

UPDATE, 2 years later,
I hope readers saw this part:

.... Who is Lionel? He's a really nice guy,

"Lionel" is absolutely a wonderful person. I'm mortified at the negative image of him I never meant to convey.