Do the Right Thing!

Say you’re walking in a shopping mall. You glance down, and there before you on the floor is a ten-dollar bill. It’s not a huge amount of money, but obviously someone dropped it by accident. 

You pick up the money and glance to your right and see a little gift shop. What next? What’s the right thing to do?

          You can stuff the ten-spot in your pocket and keep on walking. No one will notice. The person who lost the money may not miss it until he or she gets home. On the other hand, it could have been lost by someone who needs the money for lunch or transportation's home. Without it, what will he or she do?

          This series of events actually happened to a real person. Without formulating the question in exactly these terms, the person who found the ten dollars wanted to do the thing that would nourish her happiness. So, she went into the little gift shop, explained what had happened, and left her business card. “If anyone comes in looking for a lost ten-dollar bill,” she said, “here is my phone number. Have the person call me and I’ll return the money.”

          The little and big ethical choices you make either nourish your happiness or deprive it of life. It’s up to you to do the right thing. If you lie to protect yourself, you deprive your soul of nourishment. If you tell the truth, even though it means admitting that you did something wrong, you nourish your happiness. It’s a paradox. “The truth will set you free.”

          You’re at work and hear a fellow employee giving vent to racist or sexist attitudes. Do you keep quiet or quietly but firmly speak up for justice and truth of all, regardless of race or sex? Do you want to let more light into your heart or let it slip back a little into the shadows? You can speak up for goodness and truth in a manner that sidesteps self-righteousness. You can speak up for equal treatment for all, and that will nourish your happiness.

          You have a chance to sneak into a baseball game without paying for a ticket, and your children are with you. Do you go ahead and sneak in without paying, or do you do the right thing? Do you say by your actions, “ Cheat when you can get away with it,” thus allowing darkness into your heart? Or do you make it clear that you’re not interested in cheating and then buy the tickets like everyone else?

          No matter what, do the right thing. Not only does this nourish your happiness, but it helps others to make good choices, as well, thus helping them to nourish their happiness, too.