The little things

How do you handle the tough things in life - the hard decisions to make, the difficult conversations to have, admitting you are wrong and asking for forgiveness, dealing with the consequences? I think these are the things that define who we are. These are the types of situations you can't fake with a smile and pretend everything is okay. These define your character and integrity. The good times are fun and they reveal parts of who we are, but the difficult shows the cracks. When you apply pressure or stress to an object it will reveal where the defects are at. Same with us. The tough situations will reveal who you are.

The question is when these situations occur, and they will, how are you going to handle them? Are you willing to let others see your faults and help you or do you "man up" and tackle it on your own? The pressure will come and others are watching how you respond. We think a lot of the time we live in a vacuum and our choices don't impact others, but the reality is that our choices are influencing others. They see the real character and integrity of who we are or where we are lacking in those. The small choices we make each day lead us to how we will handle the tough ones. Compromise your character and choices in the small things and when the stress is there the cracks will only grow larger. So maybe the better question is how are you going to handle the small things in life? What does your actions today say about your character and integrity? Character and integrity are built one choice at a time and it only takes a little compromise to cause a dangerous crack in the foundation.