"Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; this means we must develop a world perspective." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Loyalty is faithfulness or devotion to something... a sense of duty that we are obligated to uphold.
When we think about being loyal, the first thing that comes to mind is a romantic relationship, or loyalty towards our people or community.
Let's take that a step further. What about faithfulness to self? To your principles?
We all have a set of values, or things and ideas that are important to us. These are things on which we are unwilling to compromise. For some of us, that could be family, ambition, career, wealth, legacy, friendship, popularity, self-satisfaction... an infinite list of priorities that motivate us every day.
How committed are we to the principles we say are so important to us?
When we are true to ourselves, our community, and our principles, we reject things that have the potential to cause us harm. Avoiding risky behaviors and things that are damaging to our health is one way we demonstrate loyalty. Those things sometimes bring pleasure, but it is selfish pleasure. How can we be good parents, leaders, friends, employees, or neighbors when we are incarcerated, ill, crippled, or dead? When we're seriously loyal to our values, those values must come first.
We also demonstrate loyalty through effort. It is natural to become fatigued or distracted, but we should be moving closer to our goals daily. Often, we make excuses for why we are not making progress... we're tired, there's not enough time, there's not enough money, etc.
If you really want what you say you do, show commitment. Challenge yourself. There is always a small action you can take today to advance towards your goal. And even when we cannot act, we can still think and plan.
Is your desire for rest greater than your desire for change? There are too many people in today's world that say one thing, and practice another. Do not become one of them.
Today, think about the things that are important to you. Look at your pattern of actions this week, this month, and this year. Do your actions correspond with your values? Have you been truly loyal to your principles?
Reward and congratulate yourself for your successes, and make a plan to improve on your weaknesses. Remember that today's problems and stresses will come and go, but your values should never change.
Posted By: Jon C.
Wednesday, August 6th 2008 at 11:07AM
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