Character - does it really matter in 2015?

As we approach a new year I believe that one of the better resolutions to consider isn’t about eating, drinking, smoking or saving but about your moral character. How often in the last year did you catch yourself stretching the truth, cheating a little or actually stealing? I’m not accusing anyone of major theft or murder in the typical context but of considering how your words could harm someone’s character or potentially get them fired or demoted because of your choice not to speak the truth. Yes, it’s possible to murder someone’s character because of your choice to ignore a situation or pretend that you don’t see or hear something!

The generation that will soon take over the reigns of the government and local politics has been raised around an amoral society where everything goes unless you get caught or someone is actually hurt from your actions. Is your motivation for your actions based solely upon what you get out of it or is it more a genuine concern to see those that have been forgotten or left behind receive a fair ‘shake’ in life? It’s always incredible to see the extremes that someone will go to rescue a pet but when it comes to someone who continues to make poor choices it’s too easy to look the other way and just walk off and think it’s not my problem!

Too often we live in a very utilitarian fashion where the end result is all that matters and the journey that brings us to this destination doesn’t matter much if at all. The person who believes that everything matters sees the importance of starting off all things in life doing their best, continuing to give their all until they finish with a sense of accomplishment and pride in a job well done. My mother use to always feed into me that any job worth doing was a job worth doing well.

The reality today is that most youth truly believe that there are short cuts in life that avoid hard work and heartache. The results too often are jobs that are done in a half ‘ass’ fashion that everyone would be ashamed to claim as their work. We would be quick to point the finger at someone else or make excuses to explain the poor quality of work we just did. Anyone who does an excellent job often is viewed as an overachiever type that needs to cool it and not make the rest of us look bad.

Imagine how the world around you would change if everyone started to care about their character and how that impacted their family, workplace and neighborhood? The great need is for everyone from the CEO of the big companies to the cashier at your favorite coffee shop to do their job with excellence and be willing to do a little bit more to help someone begin a journey of discovering the benefit of becoming a person of character. I know it is so easy to be more concerned about the people around me and their actions then to look in the mirror and see my own wrinkles, gray hair and beard.  The revolution and resolution for the 2015 starts in the mirror today as you get ready to celebrate the New Year and remember the old!