A hypocrite! Surely from time to time, I may have been one, but then so have you, right? That’s the unfailing truth. You know it, and so do I. I have, on several occasions, pretended to be alright with things even though my instincts wanted to scream out, “It’s not ok!” How many of us compromise our principles time and again? How often do we take the easy way out?
Standing up to your convictions, standing up for what is right, certainly takes courage. There’s no denying there are tigers amongst us waiting to roar at the slightest umbrage; ready to jump in when the faint-hearted just stand still. So, what is courage, really? Are some people just born with it? Is it a gene that you inherit from some valiant ancestors? I think not. It’s not a quality you are born with, it’s cultivated and regularly honed. Standing up for what you believe is no mean task. You will lots of people the wrong way. Most prefer to be mere bystanders, rather than get into the thick of things.
One of today’s grand confusions is popularity no one gets awarded cookie points for speaking out, even if you’re upholding the truth. If winning a congeniality contest is your goal, you certainly will fail to develop that resilient courage muscle needed to lead a life aligned with integrity. Most have a mental image or at least recognise the kind of person required to take charge and action in a situation, like those who are hot under the collar. We assume these people are compelling, confident individuals, who are not afraid to speak their minds in any situation. But oftentimes, they are just ordinary folk who choose to respond in line with their value system. What consistently sets apart the interveners from the side-standers, is their innate ability to take a stand and the steps to ease volatile situationa.
The thing to remember here, is people will always be vocal and forceful in situations that are basically self-serving, or beneficial to them. There are some who simply thrive on drama, others who love the attention (good or bad), and even occasionally feel the need to stir the pot unnecessarily. But, active, constructive interveners, as I choose to call them, somehow always seem to have a wide circle of concern, that extends beyond close friends and family.
It’s natural to feel skittish about defending a person or a principle if you prefer to blend in. After all, social acceptance is important. Every day we make choices that either benefit us asserting our views, ideas, opinions or choose to diminish the same. When we hesitate in making our views or desires known, we often just go with the flow to avoid potential conflict. Real life provides you with situations that require little acts of valour regularly. It is these acts that reinstate our faith in human nature and the possibility of virtue.
From our friendships, to our jobs, to our conduct in public, seemingly small decisions often pose big tough ethical dilemmas. Navigating the course of ethical dimensions in everyday life is hard, can be rough, awkward, even disappointing. It is said, “Our lives are dictated by our choices. Why do we rather not let our choices dictate our lives?”
Choosing what is easy, tempting or self-serving in everyday small acts, does not necessarily point to a moral decay in ethics. But over time, when sensitivities are misplaced, the incidence and variety of transgressions may corrode your moral fabric and the inner essence of purity and good that once resided in you. One has to realise that there is a distinction between greater moral issues that dominate our dinnertime conversations, like say a constitutional amendment meted out to rapist or a CEO’s corporate coffers, or then political pathos.
On the other hand, there are the morally laden quandaries that demand direct and immediate decisions. In fact, it is in dealing with these everyday moral challenges that we see just how we implement the larger moral principles. We all know the difference between right and wrong. But the real heroes are those who take responsibility for how their actions impact others.
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