If you have read through these lectures, you should have gone through the basic ideals and setup of the Force Academy, the different training options available to you, What a Light Side Jedi is, What the Force is, a Breathing exercise, and why we feel power in the Light Side. So now that we've done all this, a reminder of why we are Light Side:
Positive practices have a positive effect, and negative practices have a negative effect. This is much the same as with the Force. The reason that the Light Side Jedi promote peace, harmony, and non-violent means to a solution is that any time you use a negative reaction to a situation, it has an effect on you. The more that you utilize actions that are leaning more to the Dark side, the more you lean towards that Dark Side. With that taken into account, if you use actions that are of the Light Side, you become more of the Light Side. They are relative to one another...the action you take, and the effect it has on you. So the most important thing to work on, as a Light Side Jedi student, is learning to control yourself, and find positive solutions to problems that you may have. Through this method of solving problems, you enhance your own understanding of the Force, and enhance your ability to use the Light Side of the Force.
The nature of our position is that of idealism. We, as Light Jedi, cling to the hope that life can, and will be, better. We cling to the belief that we have an effect through our actions, and that by counteracting negative events, we can turn them into positive ones. This leads to the issue of balance. Much has been made of "Balance" in the force, and the existence of Light and Dark...such as the belief that to have a Light Side, you must have a Dark side...to know love, you must also know hate. But this is simply theoretical. The Force, by our definition of it, does not choose sides. Therefore, it has no "Light" Side, and it has no "Dark" Side. It simply exists, and we, as conduits of this force, use it in "Light" and "Dark" ways. In my personal belief, balancing the force is a way of achieving the purest form that the force may be used in. By doing so, you negate the outside influences. My personal feeling is that the purest way the Force may be used in is for good. By that standpoint, negative uses of the force are an aberration. Of course, there are many different standpoints. Shadow users believe that balance means using the force for both positive and negative reasons, without confining it with rules or using it for a particular ideal. Dark Side force users feel that the force should be used in such a way as to bring power to the user. The Force is a very powerful energy, and can be used in whichever way the user wishes it to be used. This is why we adhere such labels to users...Light Side, Shadow Side, Dark Side...it is not an actual facet of the force, as much as it is a reflection of ourselves. It is a way of classifying the different users of the force into tangible ideals and motives. For me, I am a Light Side Jedi because I believe in optimistic ideals, I believe in humanity, and I feel that we all have an energy that we can tap into as a cohesive world...a universal "power outlet" that we can all use to make the world a better place. That's what we, as Light Side Jedi, must use this to do. We must keep our ideals...we must retain our hope...and we have to continue to believe in something better for everyone as a whole.
May the force be with you, and may you use it wisely.