Idealism - 9

If you're caught up in confusion, it's because your ideals are clashing with reality.

and ....

Keep your standards up. Hold others accountable.


Daughter has been auditioning for skating teams, and I am incredibly confused. How can I put her on a team whose ethics don't agree with ours? What do I tell her about friends who are saying one thing to her face and the opposite behind her back? What do I do when rumors are spread about me even though I have been nothing but open and honest about my actions?

How do you raise children with integrity in a world where people do nothing but lie and deny? Where people are "famous" for being idiotic? How do you teach them to do the right thing so they will feel better about themselves at the end of the day .... only to see, at the end of the day, the cheaters being rewarded?

Here's the hardest part: How do you raise children to respect authority when the people in authority are the biggest idiots? Son is 7 and he thinks a Mayor is like a Sheriff (thanks to SpongeBob, I'm pretty sure). Thankfully he is unaware of the Mayor of Detroit's texting scandal - and various other scandals.

Maybe we were better off in the 50's and 60's when the press were in on hiding the fact that the President had lovers or was ill. Maybe there are some things we are just better off not knowing.

I left a job recently because of the inexcusably inconsistent, erratic, and ugly behavior of a Person in Authority. I listened for months while PiA badmouthed everyone who currently or formerly worked with the organization. I watched as PiA made decisions based solely on protecting his own interests, not for the good of the organization, yelled, threw tantrums and bullied. When I was finally tired of being accused and abused (and I put up with it much longer than I should), I left. I am afraid to look for another job. I'm afraid of the situation happening again. I'm afraid there is no one left with integrity.

My ideals are high standards and fairness for everyone. Reality is quite the opposite. Of course they are clashing.