Posts Tagged ‘Character’

Character is the very fiber that makes up our being. It is the inherent complex of attributes that determines a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions. It is the underlying foundation that under-girds the way we think, the way we talk, the way we interact, the way we treat ourselves and others, and the very way we give and live.

A person’s character is developed in the dark, and is always revealed in the light.

Just by flicking through the newspaper or listening or watching the media we continue to have presented to us case after case of lives that were convinced that the questionable character that was developed in the dark, sometimes years, sometimes decades ago, will always remain concealed in the dark. But alas, history reveals otherwise. Darkness, and the habits or actions committed there, have a way of being exposed.

That is why we all need to make a concerted effort to keep our morals and ethics in check. Not just for the purpose of never being found out, but rather to live a life that will grow stronger through all weathers.

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There was a particular day in my life where I found myself battling to identify the next steps I should take in regards to some projects that I was working on when I was reminded of the storyboards that are designed for feature movies. These are hand drawn pictures of each of the frames of a film that are created before it is ever filmed. These storyboards are used to guide the director as to how best set up the greatest shots that will finally appear in the film. It is the visual plan for the movie.

Then I spent a weekend reading the final volume written by Sir Winston Churchill about the  final years of the 2nd world war. The overriding impression I received as I read it was that the allies knew exactly when they were going to win the war. And although it didn’t always go according to plan the fact was that they had a plan – and would make adjustments to the plan as they went. Churchill, along with the American and Russian leaders that worked closely with him, knew when Hitler’s and the Japanese nation’s demise was going to happen. And they then continued to work towards the fulfillment of that plan. They never considered the possibility of defeat. It was a detailed and well executed plan that we can now read in the history books.

And then I was reminded of the last two years that I spent at school as a teenager. I studied science which consisted of three areas – physics, chemistry and biology. For the bulk of those two years – before my finals – I failed every single test in Physics and Chemistry. But through sheer persistence and hard work I passed with flying colors when it was really needed. The irony of it all was that I was accepted in to university to study Science. I may have lost many a battle along the way, but I won the war.

And life is very much like that. I know for a fact that throughout my lifetime there are innumerable battles that I have lost – but my concentration is not on the battles. I want to make sure that I position myself so that at the end of my life I will be able to clearly declare – and it will be proved by the legacy that I leave behind – that I have in fact won the war.

It is for that reason that I never compare myself to others who seem to be able to win battle after battle after battle. And that is where I am reminded of the following story of men who may have won the battle – but ultimately lost the war.

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‘That which does not kill us makes us stronger.’ Friedrich Nietzsche

I once heard someone say that if you cannot find your name in the obituary column of the newspaper, it’s a great day.

As I read some of the writings of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor from 161 to 180AD, I was astonished at his obsession with death. But then, even as I have studied the writings of Solomon in the Bible, he often addressed the issue of death with a similar concentration.

But amidst this morbidity Friedrich Nietzsche briefly explains that although we think sometimes, because of the tough circumstances that we may be facing at the time, that death is knocking at our door – the fact remains that while ever we have life in our body, we are actually being presented with wonderful opportunities to be strengthened.

An easy life will only ever breed weaklings, whereas a life thwart with challenges to overcome will either destroy us outright or, if we choose, and we all have a choice, it will create within us a resilience to push through all the way to victory.

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The world is clearly divided between those who choose to see the best, and those who see the worst.

Napoleon Hill once wrote, ‘Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.’ He was definitely an optimist.

An optimist calls a half-filled glass half full. A pessimist will declare it as half empty. An optimist sees a pile of bricks and envisages a castle, whereas a pessimist will only think of the hard work ahead. The mouth of an optimist is positive and uplifting. The tongue of a pessimist is negative and critical.

So where do you lie? On what side of the fence do you inhabit?

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I recently read a sad obituary of a billionaire who had passed on. It recorded the fact that they had been known for their ‘bullish’ dealings in business and their unsettled family relationships resulting from three marriages.

Now they may have been the owner of some other fine qualities throughout their lifetime, not noted in the obituary, but for me personally – to have recorded as part of my obituary the above details, is the leaving of a sad legacy.

Success in life must be assessed by not just the bank balance alone, but rather by the measure and richness of the relationships developed by a life both in business, and in particular within the structure of the family.

All of us are flawed, but if we can live our lives in a state of love, forgiveness, the keeping of short accounts and of faithfulness – then we are traveling on the road towards a rich and prosperous life.

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