This is the second blog in a series. The first blog can be found at The Durham Proverbs: Expect the Best.
Focus on the stars.
General George Marshall said, "We must stop setting our sights by the light of each passing ship; instead, we must set our course by the stars." (Others have made similar statements, but I will focus on General Marshall's.) Taking a writer's liberty, I would paraphrase: "Focus on your core values, not the values of others. Do not constantly change what you believe."
In our society, it is becoming almost impossible to follow General Marshall's admonition. We tend to set our sites based on the passing ships of others' values. What are these ships? These are social media, news outlets, political bias, racism and hate, fortune, fame, or educational accomplishments. These are not constants.
Social media is the most intrusive passing ship. It provides a false sense of worth and has had a horrible impact on suicide rates. But Social media is not the only passing ship; pick any news service you want, e.g., Fox, CNN, NPR, The Washington Post, The York Times, or MSNBC, and you will quickly be directed to a current passing ship. The problem is that showing that someone is holding to a constant set of values is not newsworthy. It is much better to focus on human errors; after all, who wants to read about someone acting with integrity or following their core values?
Most people avoid constant values.
In conversations with friends and even strangers on a plane or in an airport, I notice that it is not easy to find someone who is fixated on their stars—usually, they are focused on a passing ship. People will say they have a set of constant values to which they adhere, but it is not easy to get them to tell you what the constants are or how they convince themselves they follow the constants. I will not presume to say to you, the reader, which values should constitute your stars, i.e., those constants that should guide you. For some, it may be religious beliefs; for some, an ethical code; and for some, intellect. (I realize there are other stars like greed, pride, and success at all costs, but I am assuming these are not necessarily the types of stars General Marshall was espousing.)
Even those who are fixated on their stars regularly tend to look away and focus on the passing ship(s). I know I do. I start each day with a set of projects or goals that need to be accomplished. At the end of many of these days, I discover that I have failed to execute my plan. It is hard to focus on projects and even more challenging to stay focused on your values during a day, a week, or a year.
There is little doubt that a person's values change over time. This change can occur because people need a different set of values to allow them to do what they want. This transformation is not necessarily bad, but neither is it necessarily good. The stars you follow should be constant if they are the right stars.
Are politicians exempted from having values?
After the presidential and vice presidential debates, I wondered if all the viewers were able to ascertain the values that guided the candidates. What I saw was each candidate focusing on the lights of the passing political ships. After all, it is tough to get elected if you hold to a constant set of values. Indeed, both parties contend that their candidates showed their guiding principles, but will the guiding principles remain in place?
I know this is treading on quicksand. After all, politicians should (perhaps I should say they do) constantly change their stances to appeal to voters if they want to get elected. If they want to win, they have to be fluid in their thinking. Unfortunately, this often means they have to be fluid in their values and their core beliefs.
Henry Fonda starred in many films. Most people have their favorite Fonda film. For me, it was the "The Best Man." Fonda plays a character who is seeking his party's presidential nomination. At the end of the movie, he decides to step aside and give his votes to another candidate to keep a third candidate who is incredibly corrupt from getting the nomination. Fonda's character knows his values. How refreshing.
Having worked with politicians throughout my career, I have seen that many politicians have been corrupted and long ago strayed from their original values if they had any. While friends and strangers alike tell me they do not believe politicians have core beliefs and that they do not like either candidate in a particular election, when I ask them if they would like to run for office, the answer is almost always the same. People say there is no way they would run because they do not want the abuse or to have their values put to the test. You can include me in this group. However, maybe we should not complain if we are not willing to put ourselves to the test to show what stars we follow.
If you have not read the blog that describes the "However View," click here.
The picture is from Vecteezy. (Star in upper left added.)
