Jolt! by Phil Cooke (whitelam books .TXT) 📕

trust of religious, media, and political leaders at an all-time low, and cheating on university campuses is almost becoming commonplace.

Even Martha Stewart did hard time.

OUR INTEGRITY NEEDS A JOLT

For an earlier generation, criteria for morality and behavior were pretty standard. There was a common moral framework in America, and it wasn’t difficult to see where people stood. My dad was a pastor, and even people who never darkened the door of a church respected him and what he represented. In those days we didn’t need movie ratings, we never had to view sex or profanity on television, and parents rarely worried about the safety of their children at school.

Certainly, there were distortions. Ricky and Lucy Ricardo slept in separate beds, even though they were married, and June Cleaver always cleaned house in high heels and a dress.

As a result of those types of distortions, the disillusionment of the sixties, and a cultural drive to break free of restraint, we plunged headlong into a moral chasm with little knowledge of where we would land. Yes, perhaps things are more relaxed and tolerant now, but we’ve paid a high price for the journey. Today we live in a world where children can access hard-core pornography at the touch of a computer keyboard, schools are rife with violence, and saying a prayer in class can get you suspended from school.

This book isn’t an exploration of our national morality, but we do need to recognize how much the culture has changed in the last fifty years and understand the importance of moral courage.

I define moral courage as a set of personal principles you live by that are unchanging. Some people would call them moral absolutes, but however you choose to name them, they help create a life of moral purpose. Without moral purpose you will never reach your full potential.

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

—WILLIAM COWPER, POET AND HYMN WRITER

In another generation, moral courage would be discussed only in religious terms, but today even secular corporations are embracing the concept. I believe it’s because after fifty years of moral drift in this country, we are just beginning to see the damage from the pursuit of unchecked sexual freedom, rampant cheating, and a culture of “me first.” Check out the self-help section of the average bookstore and note how many titles focus on me. What’s in it for me, what do I get out of it, and do unto others before they do unto me.

Jonathan Last, in the Weekly Standard magazine, noted the impact of the Internet itself on the culture of narcissism when he described attempts to create video games for social change:

The central conceit of the Internet: that you can change the world without having to actually do anything. Want to change America? Download the [President] Obama app. Want to fight the Iranian mullahs? Turn your Twitter icon green. Want to bring human rights to oppressed peoples? Play a video game about it. Because what matters isn’t fighting autocrats or feeding the hungry or improving the conditions of Haitian farmers. What matters is knowing that you care about such things.

His point is that the Internet itself is “all about you.”

Hopefully, that tide is changing. We’re witnessing a wave of business leaders who are truly making a difference. Blake Mycoskie founded Toms Shoes in 2006 with the purpose of giving away a pair of shoes to a child in need with every purchase. Father-and-son team Philip and Jordan Wagner founded Generosity Water and, in their first two years of operation, funded 108 water wells in sixteen countries serving more than fifty thousand people with clean, safe drinking water.

Clearly these visionary leaders are resonating with millions of people across America. It’s time to realize that without moral courage and purpose, we’ll never live lives of significance, and we’ll never make a real difference.

Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.

—ROBERT J. MCKAIN, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND WRITER

The issue of moral courage is critical. It’s the foundation for creating priorities. Simply put, priorities are what is important. But how do we know what our priorities should be?

We start by deciding what is important to us.

I’ll never forget when one of my wife’s best friends had a baby. She was a dedicated career woman who decided after a few nervous months at home that she would hire a nanny so she could go back to work and resume her career. Everything seemed fine for a while, until one day she came home from work to hear the excited nanny cry out in joy, “Guess what? Today the baby walked for the first time! You should have seen it!”

At that moment, the mom froze in horror. For the first time since her baby’s birth, she realized that by going back to work, all the “firsts” in her child’s life would be experienced by someone else. That jolt was like an explosion. She dropped her briefcase, called her boss, immediately resigned from her job, and never looked back.

At that moment she understood her priorities. She thought her career was number one in her life, but that day she realized her real priority was her family.

Certainly not everyone can afford to stay at home with his or her children, and each situation is different. But the point is, once you realize your priorities, everything naturally finds its proper position of importance in your life.

Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes.

—KENNETH HILDEBRAND, WRITER

Take out a sheet of paper and write down all the things that are important to you. Perhaps it’s family life, personal integrity, your relationship with God, a new boyfriend or girlfriend, your reputation, or your career. Perhaps it’s being a caregiver to a loved one in need, personal health, staying in shape, or personal relationships.

Don’t get your priorities