Budget airlines today have many kinds of restrictions especially when it comes to weight management. There’s this economy fare in which you’re expected to travel light and carry no baggage at all. This means you bring everything in your carry-all, and you’d be charge for any extra poundage. Then, there’s another grade in which you’re given a mere 10 kilos, but you’re given a facility to pre-pay your poundage which is fine with me. Having traveled my entire life, accumulating so many miles in my loyalty card, I’ve become used to bringing only the essentials with me. But here’s a slight problem: my event organizers would book me budget tickets, but I’ll have to bring my books with me, as participants tend to look for them. This may come off as a bit of a surprise – but books are actually heavy!
I was in an airport in a country I refuse to name. The Ilocana, my associate and I were traveling together. The airline counter person was very charming, gentle and nice. As she was looking at our tickets, there was a slight frown on her forehead. She looked at the two big and heavy boxes, and asked me, “Are there sports equipment inside the box?†To which I responded, “No, they’re just books.†And in her earnestness to help she said, “Well, I was hoping that the boxes contained sports equipment so you wouldn’t have to be charged heavily for the extra baggage.â€
Within a fraction of a second, I found myself saying, “No, thank you, but those are books, and there’s no sport equipment inside. I will pay for the extra baggage.†She smiled.
I didn’t feel like paying extra, but the issue wasn’t about my feelings. The issue was all about doing the right thing. As I was writing this material on the plane, I wondered how I could’ve refused the attractive offer in a fraction of a second. And then it dawned on me: I was placed in a “test†situation.
Ethical behavior and issues of integrity are easy to teach, and what we teach will always put us to a test. This is what I teach – you might find it useful as well – IF YOU AND I HAVE PREDETERMINED WHAT OUR PERSONAL VALUES ARE, THEN IT BECOMES EASY TO MAKE A DECISION.
Risking sounding super spiritual, which isn’t my intention at all, let me say that the predetermined values that I’ve set for myself is to keep from doing things that would compromise my walk with God. When I’m placed in a very compromising situation where no one could see me, I’ll always be reminded that there’s at least One who sees. I refuse to disobey not because I fear the repercussions, but because I value the personal relationship I have with the One who has blessed me, kept me and protected me all these years.
My predetermined values say (and this is what I share with my kids) that I’d rather live with an honest peso than live with a dishonest million, so I respect properties that don’t belong to me, and refuse to steal or use them for my personal purposes and interests. As a business owner myself, I know the pain of having people I’ve hired download sensitive files and databases before they leave, and set up a competitor business. Maybe they did that because they’ve never pre-determined their values, so when crunch time came, they compromised.
My pre-determined values say I want to build a successful and God-fearing family, so I remain faithful to the wife of my youth. My kids see this and want the same for their families too.
There’s never a right time and there’s never a right reason to do a wrong thing!
Determine your values so you won’t make a mistake during crunch time. Make those biblical values your own. When you do, it’ll be easy to say “No!†to compromising situations. And you’d actually feel good about it! Now that’s a feeling I want!
(Develop your leadership skills and life skills by spending two whole days with Francis Kong on November 21-22 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Call Inspire at 09158055910 or 632-6310912 for details. Connect with Francis via his Facebook page – www.facebook.com/franciskong2.)