Doing the Right Thing
It doesn’t take much to find evidence of “doing the wrong thing” in today’s world. Whether it’s a viral video that shares your poor choices with countless millions or the stories we read, and hear, of people doing terrible things to others, violence, abuse, fraud and more, it’s there in plain sight.
I don’t believe that these “bad apples” are people who don’t know the difference between right and wrong. Are there individuals who have not been taught right from wrong? Perhaps. And there may be those who cannot comprehend, because of their own limitations or mental health issues, the difference. But those are the exception and not the rule.
So, as to the vast and overwhelming majority, we know right from wrong. We know that we make a choice in every interaction and every situation. Do we sometimes choose the wrong thing even when our intentions are good? Of course. We cannot always anticipate what will follow or there may be factors we do not see or know.
The key, however, remains in the desire, at our very core, to “Do the right thing.” When we believe that we are doing the right thing, we know it. Our values and beliefs are aligned, we have conviction that this is the best path, even when it is not clear, even when the choices are difficult. We trust our instincts and we hold onto our commitment to making the best decisions, to keeping “right” front and center in our thinking.
In our over complicated, over stimulated world, it is easy to see this issue of “right” as cloudy or just not even a consideration. Who has time? Who wants to think about whether something is right or wrong? What does it matter?
The truth is that we can’t afford to not take the time, to not think it through, to not recognize right versus wrong. We all knew this as children, we all understood the feeling that comes with doing the right thing, the sense that we are being honest with ourselves. And we understood the feeling that accompanies doing the wrong thing, the tension we feel, the discomfort, the disconnect.
It’s time, it’s past time, for each of us to remember our clarity around “doing the right thing,” and to realize the positive impact it has on others and on the world in which we live. Doing the wrong thing is, of course, remains a choice complete with consequences that may have a reach you cannot anticipate.
