Moral Victories

Doing the right thing is hard sometimes. Let's face it. What with all our responsibilities, obligations, hobbies, personal desires and what not we often justify ourselves in not stepping up to the plate to make things right, be it with others, teachers, friends, family, etc. Maybe it's because we are so often caught up in the business of our lives that we forget to do the right thing, but maybe it's thanks to that polarity that those moments where we DO make the right (and often harder) choice that it tastes that much sweeter. Heck, sometimes when faced with a moral dilemma, we have to snatch moral victory from the jaws of defeat. For example...

Case Study One: Visiting a (in this case, sick/afflicted) friend who needs you even when you are tired, have three imminent tests of doom, and have already figured someone else will do it. Turns out that sometimes, everyone else thought "someone else will do it". And, as Bill Watterson once observed, "We're all 'someone else' to 'someone else'." Sometimes, you are the only one who not only CAN do the right thing, but the only one who WILL. Be there. Someone out there needs you.

Case Study Two: Taking a test about which you come to find you are inadequately prepared, waffling on whether or not a response is correct, and deciding to cut your losses and turn it in. Then, while walking down the stairs, you see the correct response circled on the smartest kid in the class' test out of the corner of your eye. You somehow justify that you "knew it all along" and circle it before handing it in. However, as you try to walk away, you feel something in the back of your mind and in your heart that tells you something must be done. You figure the better grade justifies the means, but you end up turning around, requesting your test back, and returning it to the state in which it was originally submitted. Not only that, but you send an e-mail to the teacher explaining your actions to have him reply, "Thank you for your honesty. That will serve you well for the rest of your life."

Case Study Three: Trusting your heart and your instincts that a plan you recommended for retirees is not the right plan for them, even if it means you will lose out on a few commissions because of it.

Case Study Four: Going home teaching and visiting a sick or otherwise afflicted friend even when you are exhausted, stressed, and overwhelmed with the minutae of life... in the same night. Sure, home teaching is a responsibility and a duty, but it's so worth it when you get a text out of nowhere from them thanking you for being the best home teachers they ever had.

I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. I just want everyone to know that doing the right thing is worth it every time. "Thank you" is often way better than money, fame, or worldly glory could ever be. I believe that in the end of things, when we are all brought to judgment, we will get not only a full picture of all the times we missed, but also a full picture of the goodness we have done and the people we have helped even beyond this life. You wanna know why? Because every one of 'em, generations, multitudes, and mortal contemporaries will be there, smiling and rejoicing in those small, seemingly insignificant moments that belied a far-reaching, eternal victory for them and you.