TheBanyanTree: Edict

[Maria Gibson]

I will do what is right regardless of another's actions.

Whether by mistake or by design, it is wrong to keep that which doesn't
belong to me.  Just because I find something doesn't mean I can keep
it.  It isn't mine to keep.

Anger lashed out isn't a reason for anger, an excuse for bad behavior or
a license to be out of control.  Regardless of the circumstances, I am
responsible for what I say and do.  Blame cannot be laid at the feet of
another for a decision I make to shout, rant, beat breast, curse or
stomp feet.  I am responsible for what I project to the world.

In the car, when faced with rudeness and ignorance, the point at which I
am culpable begins with my foot, my finger, my face, my mouth and my
car.  I own whatever comes from me.

On the phone or on the internet, anonymity isn't a curtain behind which
I can hide and be willfully abusive because false comfort is felt.  The
mirror I must face isn't merely symbolic.

I will accept my inaction as my own and not lay waste to time, breath or
paper to shift eyes from me.

Personal responsibility isn't a choice, it is what it is.  Acceptance of
such can be misaligned, skewed, or rationalized but it doesn't change
the fact of what it is even if it is ignored.  It is what it is.

Decreed and declared.

Maria