Situational ethics

We've all heard a person say something is, "Wrong. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. I'd never do that. That's the sort of thing that only a bad person would do." Hell, most of us have said something like that. Sometimes you'll even hear them say something like, "That ought to be a crime." Then they find that, for some reason, they are engaging in the tabooed activity. Oops. Now what? Some who find themselves in this situation also find that they've learned something about themselves. It takes a bit of introspection. Sometimes, with some brutal honesty with oneself, lessons can be learned; personal growth achieved. Others seem to just redefine the sin, "I'm not doing that. I'm doing this other thing that, while it appears to be the same thing to you, is completely different in my made up reality." "It's ok, because of [insert here some extenuating circumstance that is only related by... well, sometimes they don't need to relate at all, do they?]" Still others just ignore the change altogether. We've all had to change our beliefs at one point or another. Maybe not wholesale changes, but change is a part of life, so some will be unavoidable. The key is to learn from the mistakes we make. Wait, that's a different rant, sorry. They key, here, is to understand that they shift. To delve into the cause and decide if we really believe in our new course, or if we've just fallen off the path we know to be right. If we believe, we need to own up to the fact that things have changed; take ownership of the new, improved (please, please, let it be an improvement, if you're going to stick with it. Fight Entropy!) person we've become. If we've slipped, it's time to end the hypocrisy. Face your mistakes; do the hard thing (almost guaranteed to be the right thing); get back on the correct path. It may seem harsh, but in the long run, it is what's best for you. Doing the right thing (especially when it's the hard thing) builds character. The beauty of this is that Character makes doing the right (hard) things more natural; not easier, but natural. The bad part is that, until you've built the necessary character, doing right may seem to be more than hard, it may seem impossible. It's not, and next time it will be a little better. Failing to do the right thing destroys character and makes the new path you've chosen more palatable. The next wrong decision will seem more acceptable. Unchecked, this leads to being a bad person. Trust me. I've been there. The trip back from hell is much more arduous than staying out of hell to start with.