While I personally wasn't impacted by either event, the actions of others did have a negative impact on those around them. In both cases, someone had made a mistake. You know what? People do make mistakes - we are human. However, each time the people that had messed up threw the blame on someone else. No accountability. Not only did they blame someone else, but in the first event they started a physical fight, and in the second they used hate speech, lunged at employees, and called the cops.
Now I'm not a person to throw the first stone, as they say. Yet I would like to speak upon the three words I placed as my title.
Integrity: If you do something wrong, make it right. Try to do the right thing in the first place, but if you slip up, don't dig a hole. Be a person that other people can count on. Be sure that your actions are the best that you can do in that moment. Work on the ability to pause and consider the next step rationally. Respond, don't react (as they also say). Managing your emotions can be hard sometimes, but it's worth the effort and time investment to learn how to do so. Breathe, put things in perspective, pause. Sometimes you have to stand up for what's right and other times you have to walk away. Know the difference.
Kindness: If the folks involved in these situations had thought about how to act in kindness - how to think about the other party's perspective - how to interact calmly - then everything could have gone a lot more peacefully.
Respect: Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Even when we are in a disagreement, how can we approach the stressful topic in a way that respects the others involved?
My intention here is not to stand here on a moral soapbox, lecturing others. My intention here is all about personal reflection and growth. Yes, we all feel slighted sometimes... angry even. As young adults, you are all learning how to navigate those situations... and there will be those situations in life. So I encourage you to respond in integrity with both kindness and respect.
Have a great day, folks! I'm looking forward to seeing what you create for your final projects!
