Gotta 'Fess Up

Don't you just love it/hate it when God, the Universe, and your conscience conspire to move you to do the right thing?

After writing to you about how agile and determined our minds are when we want to rationalize our less than upright behavior, I had an incident where I did just that. It has niggled at me for a couple of days , despite my rationalizing that it was not such a big deal. As I was coming to the realization that I would not be at peace until I made it right, I came across this:

"Adam Clarke was an assistant in a dry goods store, selling silks and satins to a cultured clientele. One day, his employer suggested to him that he try stretching the silk as he measured it out. This would increase his profits, and also increase his value to the company. Young Clarke straightened up from his work, faced his boss courageously, and said, "Sir, your silk may stretch, but my conscience will not."

Unfortunately, some of us are not so honest (ouch!) The book The Day America Told the Truth reported the following: 91% of those surveyed admitted to lying about something on a regular basis; 50% procrastinated, in effect doing nothing, one full day out of every five; and 74% steal from those who will not miss it. Examples of such stealing include taking office supplies from work, long lunches, extravagant meals, accepting gifts from customers, ignoring copyright laws (how about burning CD's and DVD's?), claiming improper deductions, etc. But the person of integrity avoids all such temptations. "
(from A Dad's Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent

The next afternoon I got this from my (unknowing) daughter in the text of an e-mail about doing the right thing:

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

I don't know who wrote that, but it resonates completely in my heart. Yes, I have set things to rights as best I could. I received love and understanding in return. Whew! That was a lot of internal drama I could have avoided.

Where in your life have you been less than honest?
What is your conscience telling you to do about it?
Will you follow through?