Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.
W. Clement Stone
1902 – 2002

I’m constantly amazed by the power of the Internet. Like most people my age, I had lost contact with all my high school classmates. But the Internet has allowed us to reconnect. Many of my high school classmates are now regular readers of Lessons in Life. I recently got an email from one and thought I’d share her experience with you. She and her husband were out shopping for a new TV and they decided to stop and get a quick dinner.

We stopped at our favorite Chinese restaurant to eat buffet style; they have a little bit of everything Chinese and American. It was “All you can eat” for $9.98. When we got our bill, it was for only $9.98. My husband looked at it and asked me, “Do you want to do the right thing, or do you want to cheat?” I asked him, “What are you talking about, because I never cheat!” Then he showed me the bill. I asked him, “What do you think?” I knew his decision would be just like mine. It would have been so easy to walk out and pay the $9.98, but he called our server over and pointed out the mistake. She thanked us and changed the bill to the correct amount.

This normally would have been the end of the story, but not with me involved. There was a lady at the next table, with her 4 children, ages about 8 to 12. She came over and sat down beside me and said, “Thank you!”

I asked her, “For what?” She said her 10 year old daughter had said to her, “Mom, did you hear that? I wonder what they’ll do?” She told her children that if we didn’t do the right thing, Karma would come and bite us in the butt. So she thanked us for setting a good example for her children.

I told the children to “Always do the right thing and you will be able to sleep good at night.” It was a great teaching lesson and we both felt so much better for having done the right thing.

Any time you’re faced with a dilemma, there are three questions you should ask yourself. They will always lead to the right answer.

1. If the situation were posted on a billboard in the middle of town, would I be embarrassed to have my friends and family see how I had acted?
2. Will I be able to look at the mirror in the morning and be happy with the person looking back at me?
3. If the tables were turned, how would I feel about things?

Always do the right thing — it does wonders for your sleep.

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882

Copyright © 2013 by John Chancellor