A Higher Standard
I have always been fascinated with Abe Lincoln. His rise from poverty and hardship as a young child to become the 16th President of the United States of America is one of the most tremendous stories of inspiration, persistence and achievement that we have ever seen. He had a rough upbringing, losing a mother at an early age, teaching himself how to read, overcoming several key losses in his career and personal life that would have destroyed most people. These hardships don’t even include leading America through the Civil War that had torn a nation completely in half. The ability Lincoln had to overcome adversity spoke to his resilience but it also spoke more deeply to his character.
Today I was reading a book I picked up at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL titled The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln. This book is a collection of Lincoln quotes, adages, speeches and other significant writings of his. Early in the book I was pulled in by a quote that I had never heard before he said “some things that are legally right are not necessarily morally right.” Why did this stick out so much to me? I think it spoke to the core of who I am and how I was raised. As people it is important to hold ourselves to the highest of standards regardless of how uncomfortable that is even if I’m allowed to do something that is morally questionable or bankrupt. The standard shouldn’t be if we are allowed to do something legally but if it’s fair and just for everyone. Lincoln was dealing with a system that was set up under a set of principles that discounted a large part of the population by law but he was smart enough to understand that it didn’t make it morally right.
The real question is how are you going to make sure you are on the right side of it all. Will you compromise your morals because you can do so legally or will you hold fast to what is morally just rather than lower your bar because the law says you can? I would imagine many leaders will say that I’m over simplifying this dilemma, however do we aspire to be great or do we aspire to be mediocre? I don’t believe this is a new problem for people. Abe Lincoln was President over 150 years ago and it was clearly an issue then and still is today. This shouldn’t detract us from committing to a life where we strive to live at a higher standard. Greatness lies in the sacrifice not in what is easiest. When we make decisions simply because we can we sell ourselves short but when we make decisions based on what is morally right we lift everyone up. Make the decision to live and lead by a higher standard and you will never regret it. Have a great week and remember when your commitment is greater than your feelings you get results.
