On Values
To my sister and me, they were always Nanny and Granddaddy. One day I saw Nanny watching through the window as my sister and I tried smoking. Thinking I would get ahead of the problem, I went to Granddaddy and told him we were hiding and smoking. His only comment was “If you have to hide it, you ought not to be doing it!”
The next day, Granddaddy and I had gone fishing at the ole honey hole, when I asked him about peoples’ reputations and if they were really that important. His only reply was, “You come into this world with one name, make it count.”
I asked what that meant, and his only answer was “Think about it”.
While thinking about that, I began pondering values and exactly what that means. I had been to a Christian group and they kept talking about values.
Granddaddy said to me, “Your values are what you stand for and who you are. Absolutely nothing is more important than keeping your values. Never compromise them, even in the face of death!”
The next day I started questioning him about truth. My question was, wouldn’t it be easier to lie about whatever it was, and then you wouldn’t have to get beat up or killed.
His words resonate today, “If you tell the truth you don’t have to worry about what you said. It takes someone willing to invest the energy to remember all the details of what they said, not to get caught in a lie. Don’t you think it’s easier to tell the truth from the beginning. Remember, if you have to hide something, you ought not be doing it to start with.”
“So all I need to do is tell the truth, and everything will be alright?” I asked him. He said ‘If anybody ever tries to make you explain your actions, they’re not worth the explanation. A friend will accept you as you are, and those that demand justifications, simply aren’t worth the trouble. You will never change their perspective, and they will never understand yours. Just walk away.”
