The measure of a person.

[Martial Tucker]

Yes. Self-sacrafice in order to better the world by doing one good thing is what is so LOST on many people in the Age of Me. I don't think most people understand how powerful the act of volunteerism is, whether it is to accomplish some dangerous deed or to spend 15 minutes with a child or to put one's name in to make a difference in the community.

It takes making a stand. It is what America started as.

This sums up my sentiment exactly......Each of us is here for a reason. We each have some special talent, ability, or quality that we can draw upon to
make some kind of positive difference in someone else's life, even if it's a total stranger in an unlikely situation. We all will have many (and often unexpected) opportunities in our lives to "make a difference". I think a big part of how we will be judged in the end will be determined by how we respond during our lives to those opportunities.

"From whom much is given, much is expected."

 

[Tgace]

Too many people want to know "why should I give up my hard earned money or my time when I've taken the time to learn, educate myself and get a job? why can't others do the same thing? why do I have to pay taxes to provide for someone else?

The problem is that forcing people (a la the government) to sacrifice for the greater good imparts no "honor" upon them. We all pay taxes whether we like it or not. The "honor and glory" comes from willingly giving of yourself even when you dont have to. IMO that starts with upbringing, education, training and practice. When you start to do the small things because they are the right things to do, the more likely you are to do the big things when they come along.

What I find interesting is the thank you letters posted on my dept. walls. Most of them are from officers doing "small" things. Being understanding at natural death calls, transporting people to the airport when their car broke down, finding a lost dog etc. Rarely do you see them for the BIG calls arresting the armed guy that robbed them, etc. Its as if the big events are what we are there for and expected to do, the smaller acts of kindness seem to surprise them more often....

 

[Bigshadow]

The diference is in if you "respond" or not.

I would like to add another important nuance... Responding doesn't necessarily mean confronting. At times, there are ways of dealing with things without confrontation.

 

[Bigshadow]

Family and home to me are the true measures of a person. If you can raise kids with integrity and honesty these days, you truly and obviously know what a measure of a person really is. Nice quote Tom.

I agree!

 

[Tgace]

I would like to add another important nuance... Responding doesn't necessarily mean confronting. At times, there are ways of dealing with things without confrontation.

Yes...many martial artists dont consider that. They hear "respond" and automatically think it means a fight.

 

[Martial Tucker]

The problem is that forcing people (a la the government) to sacrifice for the greater good imparts no "honor" upon them. We all pay taxes whether we like it or not. The "honor and glory" comes from willingly giving of yourself even when you dont have to. IMO that starts with upbringing, education, training and practice. When you start to do the small things because they are the right things to do, the more likely you are to do the big things when they come along.

What I find interesting is the thank you letters posted on my dept. walls. Most of them are from officers doing "small" things. Being understanding at natural death calls, transporting people to the airport when their car broke down, finding a lost dog etc. Rarely do you see them for the BIG calls arresting the armed guy that robbed them, etc. Its as if the big events are what we are there for and expected to do, the smaller acts of kindness seem to surprise them more often....

I agree with all of this. And as for the smaller acts of kindness, I think they truly are the ones that people don't expect, because our society has drifted away from the acts of common courtesy and concern for others, that used to be taken for granted.

I'm not just referring to acts by paid public servants, but by typical citizens. The really great thing is that, for each of us, extending a small act of courtesy or kindness to someone who really needs it usually takes a minimum of extra effort on our part, but it can make a major impact on the
lives of those we reach out to, in ways we may never know about.

 

[shesulsa]

The problem is that forcing people (a la the government) to sacrifice for the greater good imparts no "honor" upon them.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone would just WANT to do the honorable thing? Unfortunately that's not the way that it is. There are, as I said, millions of excuses as to why someone can't do the honorable thing - not enough time, not enough money, not enough energy, it's too much work, it's too much effort, it's ... too much and not enough. Most of us when faced with small, medium or big challenges will turn tail or turn up nose. Is it a dishonorable thing to draw the honorable deed from another man? I'm not so sure I think so.

We all pay taxes whether we like it or not. The "honor and glory" comes from willingly giving of yourself even when you dont have to. IMO that starts with upbringing, education, training and practice. When you start to do the small things because they are the right things to do, the more likely you are to do the big things when they come along.

Agreed.

 

[Tgace]

The price of freedom is having to deal with those persons. Im not so sure Im for forcing anything out of anybody, honorable or not, unless their actions infringe on the rights of another.

Wishing things were otherwise? Thats another story.

 

[RickRed]

The price of freedom is having to deal with those persons. Im not so sure Im for forcing anything out of anybody honorable or not unless their actions infringe on the rights of another.

Wishing things were otherwise? Thats another story.

You might misread motives if the actions were the same from two people because both were under forced conditions.

One might really be doing it because they were honorable while the other was only doing it because of force.

If you tried to pick which one to be a leader based on the action, but didn't really know the motive you could pick poorly.

It might not be perfect, but being able to watch how people act in a choice setting is a great way to know what kind of person they really are in the end.

It's the old "If you saw a 20 dollar bill on the ground..." scenario.

 

[Sapper6]

Yes...many martial artists dont consider that. They hear "respond" and automatically think it means a fight.

you mean are "other" ways to respond? :boxing:

 

[Flying Crane]

It's the old "If you saw a 20 dollar bill on the ground..." scenario.

coincidentally, i just found a 20 dollar bill on the ground the other day. I did look around, nobody else was there, and there were no more 20 dollar bills on the ground either!

 

[Tgace]

Perhaps a full wallet with ID would be the better example....

 

[Tgace]

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Integrity comprises the personal inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from honesty and consistent uprightness of character. (The etymology of the word relates it to the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). Evaluators, of course, usually assess integrity from some point of view, such as that of a given ethical tradition or in the context of an ethical relationship. People who for instance said bad things about their own grandmother might appear to lack a form of integrity.

 

[Martial Tucker]

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Absolutely. If a leader is analogous to a lighthouse, then integrity is the bedrock that the lighthouse must be built upon, or it will be washed away
during a storm.

 

[Flying Crane]

Perhaps a full wallet with ID would be the better example....

Hah! that happened to me recently too! I found a wallet with cash, bank card, credit card, and ID. I work in a legal office, and we have online search tools that we can use to track people down. I was able to verify that the owner had moved to a different residence than the one listed on the driver's license, and I mailed the wallet to her. She sent me cookies!!!

 

[arnisador]

I found a $20 bill once. My then-girlfriend was with me and assumed I would want to give it to her and snatched it from my hand. Women!

 

[Solidman82]

She sounds scary man o_o

 

[Kenpobldr]

I found a $20 bill once. My then-girlfriend was with me and assumed I would want to give it to her and snatched it from my hand. Women!

If my wife finds money in the laundry she keeps it but if I find money in the laundry she still keeps it.

 

[Gemini]

If my wife finds money in the laundry she keeps it but if I find money in the laundry she still keeps it.

Sounds too familiar. Your wife's name isn't Laura, is it?

 

[Lisa]

If my wife finds money in the laundry she keeps it but if I find money in the laundry she still keeps it.

To help motivate my youngest to do the laundry, we told her that whatever she finds is hers. My husband and I are now very careful as to clean out our pockets of any paper money, but always make sure there are a few bucks in change in there a week. Ahh... bribery it works great!