Ever Want Something, But it’s Not Right?

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200 words, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, doing my best, doing the right thing, growing up, integrity, true to yourself

“Every time I’ve done something that doesn’t feel right, it’s ended up not being right.” – Mario Cuomo

YOU KNOW WHAT this quote is talking about, right?

There’s this thing you want to do. Like maybe get revenge on someone that’s hurt you or a loved one. Or maybe it’s not so black and white and if you just leak certain information about your competition, you’ll get the promotion or the contract or whatever. Yet even though you want to do it, you know it would be wrong.

Or maybe there’s something you really want, something you’re secretly obsessing about, but having it would mean someone else might get hurt or miss out in some way. And you know it’s not right but you struggle with it because you really want it. You tell yourself if you don’t get it, you will regret it for the rest of your life. And up until you finally decide, it could go either way.

It can be tough, but here’s what I’ve learned.

Whenever I’ve heeded the feeling that something wasn’t right, I have not regretted it. Whenever I’ve ignored the feeling, it’s always ended up not being right.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Rising To Leadership

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200 words, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, doing my best, doing the right thing, integrity, leadership, peers, principles, raising the bar, setting standards

There are standards to which government, religion and higher education should be held. There are examples that politicians and principled businesspeople should endeavor to set, regardless of whether their peers are making that effort. There’s right and wrong, not just better or worse.

And there’s a word for recognizing and rising to that: leadership. We could use more of it. ~ NY Times, Weary of Relativity, May 23, 2015.

I was directed to the above article by Live & Learn.

There are times when I convince myself that I’m doing alright by telling myself that:

• I do better than that other person.
• I’m not as bad as so-and-so.
• This is how everyone else does it, it’s good enough.
• Things are fine, why should I go that extra mile?
• There’s not enough time to do it the way it should be done.

Lowering the bar is tempting, especially when I’m tired. I don’t want to go there though. I want to strive to always do my best. I won’t always succeed but I want to keep that bar raised high.

I want to do right, not just better than others.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Are high standards important to you?