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Not so long ago - although it often seems a lifetime ago - I had a real job, with a real income, some of which was actually "disposable". It was also about the same time I started thinking about responsibility (being a manager will do that to you) and started thinking about not only the bills, but responsibilities for the world around me - I developed a value system.

Always an animal lover, I started thinking about not only our pets, but the food animals that sustain us. Enjoying the unspoiled countryside, I started thinking about saving it from destruction or vandalism. Although I didn't (and never will) have children, I started thinking about the future.

But then I decided to give up the real job to follow a dream - and as with most dreams, there was a price. I had to give up the salary, the car, the home and the security. I had savings, but savings can only take you so far until you need to have some money coming in - the dream needs to start paying off.

Throughout my search for success, I tried to maintain the values I had when I had "disposable" money. I bought only free-range eggs and chicken - chickens and turkeys suffer terribly so we can have cheap poultry products. I continued to support my own dogs, and to help animal charities - including fostering several homeless dogs and cats. I continued to spend time writing and talking about the destruction of the countryside and the importance of our local and global ecology. Although the small mid-west town I was forced to live in refused to pay for recycling, I saved newspapers, cans and bottles, and if I couldn't recycle them myself, I would find someone who could.

But why is it important to stick with the things we believe in - our personal values?

Because it's better to do the right thing than to do the "easy" thing.

I compare how the chickens at the little place I work are kept - running in and out of their coop, chasing bugs, scratching in the dirt, running around the yard and the field - to the "slaves" that are caged all of their lives, filthy and never seeing the sky. Is saving a few dollars worth the suffering of even those insignificant lives? I would rather eat fewer eggs.

I would rather help a dog find a good home than have a new pair of jeans - or a new car.

I would rather have a pile of papers in the corner than have a tidy house by sending the trash to fill the landfill.

I would rather recycle what I have than buy something new, that will last maybe a year, and have the purchase price line the pockets of some unknown individual, who doesn't care about chickens, dogs, trash or the future of the planet.

And buying free-range when I can't afford it, helping a stray dog, collecting and recycling is, for me, doing the right thing - for today and for the future.

And doing the right think is why we CAN'T give up on our personal values.

Learn more about this author, Pat Gray.
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