3 of 192

Write now Article Tools

Why do we praise soldiers, police officers, fire fighters, and others for heroic deeds done in the course of their daily routines? Do we praise them because their deeds are common place? No, that is not why we praise them. What makes a hero a hero, then? What makes a hero a hero is that they are not like everyone else. Their deeds, their accomplishments, who they are - is head and shoulders above the rest of us and we acknowledge it.

We praise the person of virtue because we wish to be as virtuous. We respect the person of honor because we wish to be as honorable. We admire the person of integrity because we wish to have as much integrity. We treasure those qualities in others we intrinsically know are qualities better than the ones we ourselves possess.

What we do not seem to do, however, is to apply those qualities we so admire to our own lives. It is not until we make a determined commitment to strive toward those standards - to make those qualities the ones we ourselves possess; we can never be better people.

The measure of a person is not in what they will do when they think no one is watching, but rather in what they will do when they know no one is watching. To have that level of integrity, honor, courage... indeed to have any of the abstract virtues we so admire we must make a daily choice to be better than who we are.

We cannot have just high standards; we must have nearly impossible standards. We must never stop striving to be better. If we reach one goal it is time to raise the bar. If we continue to struggle we must continue to strive.

Being a better person is about having the humility to know who we are, the good and the bad; the courage to do something about it; and the honor not to violate the standards we set as our goals. In some instances such is an easy task, but in others it may seem the universe would collapse before you could withstand the temptation to be less than who you can be. Never give up. It is in the striving itself that we find ourselves better than we were.

Learn more about this author, electprogeny.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How to become a better person?
We want to hear your view. Write now!