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| Sophia paints Evan’s face |
Yesterday, my neighbor Lorie pulled me aside and asked if my son Evan had told me about the bench.
“No, what bench?” I asked.
“The bench in front of my house that he broke,” she replied.
Uh-oh, I thought.
She continued, “Evan knocked on my door and he said ‘Miss Lorie, I was riding my scooter too fast and I couldn’t stop in time,” He pointed to the bench in front of her house, “and …I crashed into your bench and broke it. I’m sorry.”
At that moment, she said, his little friend Sophia piped in, “That’s called integrity.”
Lorie was so tickled by the two of them that she wasn’t mad at all.
Today, Troy took Evan next door to teach him how to fix a bench.
Integrity is something taught in Evan and Sophia’s second grade class, and yet it’s rare to find that quality in adults.
Ghandi famously said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” If that is true, then integrity equals happiness.
Living without integrity may very well be that the reason happiness eludes so many of us.
Are you living with integrity?
Do you take responsibility for your own actions?
Are you impeccable with your word, both to others and yourself?
Do you make promises (to yourself and others) that you don’t keep?
Do you gossip and talk bad about others (but smile to their face)?
Do you blame others for your unhappiness?
If you want to be happy, try taking a lesson from a seven year old. As Sophia said- it’s called integrity.
So simple…it’s child’s play.
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| Evan and Sophia with Snowcone tongues |
Wow, How special a moment is when someone as young as EQ is able to say I'm sorry and to own up to something he did as an accident!!! A special young boy!!,,,
jack
Love this! The value of owning up to our mistakes is priceless. Love that he got to learn how to fix a bench as well! What an adorable photo.
Thank you Jack. I have to say, it was a proud moment for me.
YES- the value of owning up to our mistakes IS priceless. I wish more adults would do it!
My father would have beaten me into a pulp. That makes me super aware of good parenting like yours. Evan & Sophia are well on their way to being way cool adults!!
That breaks my heart to hear that. He must have been a very tortured man. The best thing we can do now is to give the kindness we were never given. That's the way to healing- in my opinion.