C.S. Lewis said, Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. This is important because people are often watching us even when we don’t think they are.
Last week, I treated myself to a walk at the park. There’s a section where the path runs adjacent to the railroad tracks and a concrete overpass that supports a main road going over the tracks. On that day, I only had twenty minutes to walk so I set a timer on my phone for ten minutes to signal when it was time to turn around.
The alarm sounded at the foot of the overpass. To offset a shorter walk and spike my cardio briefly, I gave in to the impulse to climb the concrete slope before turning around and heading back to my car.
Walking uphill was not too difficult, as long as I moved slow and deliberate. When I reached the top and turned around, I suddenly became aware of just how high and how sloped the concrete bank was. Funny how twenty feet upward changed my perspective.
The traction I had going up didn’t feel nearly as strong going down. As I carefully began to sidestep my way back down, I noticed that a young girl, maybe five years old, and her mom were watching me. The girl looked fascinated and I knew exactly what I had done. She was already asking her mom if they could climb it. Uh-oh.
As I continued my descent, I started talking to the little girl and did all I could to discourage her. I told her it was a bit slippery and more dangerous than I realized. I said I had never done that before today and that I will probably never do it again. I reached ground level, winked at the mama and mouthed, “Sorry!” and went on my way.
A few steps down the trail, I turned around to see what they decided to do. They had climbed up the concrete hill just a few steps and were already coming back down. I was relieved. I would’ve felt really bad if the young girl or her mom had gotten hurt because of my bad example.
There are a couple of lessons wrapped up in this incident. When we see someone doing something we hadn't even contemplated before, our eyes are opened to try something we may have otherwise never imagined ourselves doing. That’s exciting. That’s world-widening.
We all navigate obstacles that powerfully encourage others to step outside their comfort zones, things that will stretch them in various ways—occupationally, relationally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and/or mentally.
It’s not so great when we take risks and inspire people to do something that’s potentially harmful and dangerous. Especially our little people.
As young people, we are taught in classrooms, but our most significant life lessons are learned through experience and by example. We model our behavior after the most important people in our lives, and also after perfect strangers, like my influence on a little girl last week.
When there is a chance for young witnesses to observe our actions, may we all be mindful of whether we are encouraging them in a positive way or not. While we’re not responsible for other adults and their decisions, we are responsible for the impressions made on the next generation.
Our young people are wise, observant, and constantly taking mental notes and forming their character, as they try what they see us do. Let’s be conscious of what we are teaching these precious souls and ever-present students. They will run the world that we retire in. That seems like sufficient incentive to model wisdom, adventure, courage, caution, love, grace and kindness.
Impressions can last a lifetime so let’s make them count. Happy New Year!
