Character
Do you…
- Have disagreements with your siblings?
- Have arguments with your parents?
- Have friends that misunderstand you?
- Want to do well in your job?
- Struggle with doing well in school?
- Want to have a driver’s license?
- Want to be successful in life?
The key of success and the solution is good character.
What is character? When Hannibal led the Carthaginian armies in the Punic wars, he showed character. When Benedict Arnold betrayed the American troops, he showed character. When you decide whether or not to take out the trash, you show character. Simply put character is “who you are when no one is looking.” [1] You can have good character or you can have bad character. Building your character is like the perfecting of a diamond. To perfect a diamond you have to chisel away the impurities in order to reveal its brilliance. In your life you have to chisel bad habits away and refine your character. Dr. D. James Kennedy says, “The test of character: putting self last by doing the right thing, even if it is not expeditious, even if no one expects or even understands, and even when no one else will ever know.”
Imagine a tree. This tree has the most beautiful, richly colored red apples on it. When you bite into them they have the sweetest taste. Image a second tree right next to the first one. This tree is weak looking. Its fruit is very scarce and small. Which fruit would you rather have? I think the choice is obvious. Why did one tree have excellent fruit and the other tree didn’t? The answer: the root system. The strength and quality of the root system is a strong factor in determining the quality of the fruit. In the same way character is like the root system of your life. The kind of character you have will determine the kind of fruit/behavior you produce. Why is character so important? Character is “the inward motivation to do what is right in every situation.”[2]
In future blogs I will be sharing practical ways that you can improve your character. For now you can:
- Make a personal commitment to develop good character
- Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses
- Go to http://www.characterfirst.com/assets/Files/CF-Definitions.pdf to see what character qualities you need to work on to build your fruit tree
“True success does not lie in what you have or what you can do, but in who you are.”[2] Produce good fruit!
[1] – John Wooden; http://www.hsbcamps.com/2011/04/character-is-who-you-are-when-no-one-is-watching/
[2] Character First!, “What is Character?,” Character-Character Bulletin Series 3-Special Edition: 2
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Hanna Sims, Teen Blogger