By Frank Risper
I believe that a lot of people have missed the boat when it comes to taking responsibility for their actions and for themselves. I guess just like everything else, there’s a time and a place for everything. Some people get the picture sooner or later. Some don’t get the picture at all.
I can remember when I got the memo. Here’s how it played out:
I was about 16-years-old and it was a nice day. Even though I was scheduled to work, I wanted to do something else with my time. I wanted to play basketball with my friends. When I arrived home from school, I asked my mother to call my job and tell them I was sick. I wasn’t going to work.
Knowing that this was not the truth, I didn’t want to call myself. I didn’t want to take the risk of being called out by my boss. So I asked my mother to do it.
Well, I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face when I asked her to basically lie for me. I could tell that she was disappointed in me. She didn’t have to say a word.
I got the memo loud and clear.
As she walked over and picked up the phone to call my boss, I felt helpless and regretful. I knew that I’d made a mistake but I had to go through with it. I had to make a choice and had to stand up and make my mother proud. The other choice was to be a boy who was unable to do the right thing. I decided to stand up.
Have you gotten my point yet? If so, how did it go for you? How did you get to that point?
For those of you who haven’t reached that point yet, I think it’s about that time. If it’s not your time yet, then you better start preparing yourself because it’s coming. The question that should be on your mind is “Will I be ready to make the right choice when the time comes?”
My guess is that someone will be counting on you to make the right choice. If it turns out that you got a girl pregnant, you need to stand up. If it turns out that you haven’t seen your child or children in a long time, you need to stand up. If it turns out that you have led a life addicted to drugs, you need to stand up. If you messed up in school, you need to stand up. Maybe you were a star athlete in high school or college and you made the wrong move at the wrong time and it cost you dearly. It may have been your career or the trust of your team mates were damaged. You knew better than to risk it all on that particular move. Guess what? You need to stand up to that as well. Even if the coach and the fans say that it was a team loss, in your heart you know the truth. So embrace the chance to stand up, that’s how character is built in you.
If you did the crime, stand up and do the time. Don’t let yourself get caught up in something that makes the situation worse.
One more thing before I close, please remember to pray for our President. Mr. Bush, this war in Iraq is a big mess. I’m not one who complains much but I believe that this war is based on lies. It used to seem so far away but this has started to bother me and someone needs to stand up and take the blame for thousands of lives that have been lost on both sides. This war isn’t right. Now the ones who started it are in denial and trying to cover their butts. Someone failed the test and didn’t learn how to stand up and take responsibility. President Bush didn’t have the opportunity to learn the right way as I did when I was 16. Everyone in his circle told him that he was making the right decisions his entire life. We’re a world in trouble if we still feel that way, he needs to learn how to stand up and be accountable for his actions. The decisions you make may not affect thousands but it may affect one life. The one life that you could have saved by standing up, may just be your own.
Remember to keep the faith, trust in God only and seek after a pure heart. God will be pleased.
