As I look around I often ask myself where has the honour gone in today’s culture. It really is sad to see so many people who don’t make the honourable choices in life, who opt for the easier but less harmonious shortcuts. When I see people make a mistake, the first thing they do instead of admitting they made a mistake. is to try and protect themselves from any repercussions. The only way we can truly grow as people is to acknowledge the fact that we made a mistake, make it known to all affected parties that the mistake was made by you, and that you are doing everything you can to make it right. This, is doing the honourable thing, stand up and take responsibility for your actions; and by doing this people will know that they can put their trust in you to make the right decisions. If I was a manager with the tough decision of having to choose to lay off 1 person, and it was between someone who may seem to make more mistakes, but has come forward every time and made it clear what happened, why it happened and what they are doing about it, versus someone who never seems to make a mistake, but is always involved in some way. I personally, would choose to keep the first person, because I know without doubt that they are honest and that I can trust them to make the right decisions if something goes wrong.

Before we get too far into this, I want to go over what exactly honour is. Everyone knows about the chivalrous knight who will defend their honour to the death. but what exactly is honour? If you were to look up honour on wikipedia you would come up with this definition. "Honour, is the evaluation of a person’s trustworthiness and social status based on that individual's espousals and actions. Honour is deemed exactly what determines a person's character: whether or not the person reflects honesty, respect, integrity, or fairness. Accordingly, individuals are assigned worth and stature based on the harmony of their actions, code of honour, and that of the society at large.". This definition does the word honour justice, there are four key words that come out of this definition that I want you to think about for a second, Honesty, Respect, Integrity and Fairness. Where, In your life do you accomplish these four? Where can you improve upon them?

When something goes wrong, and you have some part in it, I know it is hard to come forward and do the honourable thing, we all have so much going on in our lives that may depend on our actions. You may be thinking, "If my manager finds out about this mistake, I may lose my job, then I wont be able to provide for my family.", This is a tough decision because your livelihood is riding on it. Take a second and think about it in another way, If you don't come forward, if you work it so you are not 'responsible' for the mistake, or that no one ever finds out about the mistake. You may be off the hook for a little while, but what if someone finds out. How much trouble do you think you'll be in then? what will the repercussions be at that point? much worse I would imagine. Do the right thing, come forward and be honest with yourself and your peers.

Honour is much more then just coming forward with your mistakes. Honour is about doing the right thing in any situation. If you see someone in trouble, Help them! If you see an opportunity to perform a random act of kindness, Do It! Respect everybody and everything around you. In your day to day dealings with other people, always try to come up with a win/win solution, and avoid the win/lose route. When you are out in nature, respect it, enjoy it and never destroy it. Being honourable is generally the harder path to take, but it is the only true path for someone who cares about who they are and where they are going.

In all of us there is the power to change ourselves and the world for the better, and one way we can do this is by living an honourable life. Always remember that in any situation there is an honourable choice. Try to make this decision and follow on its path, by doing this you will start to feel that you are doing the right thing. you wont have the guilt that you may have felt if you took another path and you may be happier because you know that you've helped someone. Or you may be forced to realize the full consequences of what you have done, but you will know that you made the right decision and you will keep your head up high while keeping your integrity and dealing with whatever the outcome may be.

Just because no one else is making the honourable decisions doesn't mean that you have to follow their footsteps, take a stand and do whats right, lead by example and maybe, one day we will all live in a society that is built on principles derived from the word Honour.