Living la vida nivel

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Well, if the translator program got it right, today's headline is spot on. If SpanishDict.com didn't get it right I can only plead that my limited Spanish is not suitable discourse in this forum.

Setting confusion aside, I ask are you living to the standards you claim? Take this cartoon and substitute "my standards" for Jesus, God and Lisa especially in the last two panels.

So. Fall from grace much? Lemme rub some salt in that wound. If the truth hurts, you're not living right.

Think about what would happen if you did live up the standards you claim. Every. Single. Instant. In. Your. Life.

Now when I typed that first line of the immediate above paragraph, I wrote "Thank about what would happen if you did live up to the standards you claim."

Me? I think the first iteration, with typo, is better and certainly correct. Considering the distance between the "A" and all the other letters in "think" on the keyboard, I'm not certain it was a typo. It could have been my brain out thinking my fingers as I typed.

Lest you think I am beating you up, today's piece is about me as well. Every line I write reminds me of the times I've fallen short in regard to the standards I have set.

One day this week, I was speaking to Susan about something I had done and she had done. I said it was only fair that I hold myself to the same standards of accountability as I hold her to. In other words, what I expected of her, I should expect of myself.

So, when I fall short, the consequences should mirror what happens to her when she falls short.

In a perfect world, the rewards would mirror actions too. This ain't a perfect world.

Imperfection in my world does not excuse me from doing my best to live to the standards I have set. As our mommas said over and over, "If our friends jump off a cliff, would we jump too?"

Most of the world's greatest leaders inspired. A few led through terror or force and some of the greatest inspired first and then turned to terror and force.

Most of the great leaders stuck with inspiration and resorted to force only to meet force being applied against them. Even Ghandi, for all of the claims of pacifism did not eschew meeting force with force. While Jesus did say "turn the other cheek" he also told the disciples to be sure they were armed with a sword. Threats, BTW, are force in my world.

I am not judging them or their use of force. I merely state that it happened. Their use of force could also be part of their standards. In Adolf Hitler's case, it certainly was part of the standards he set forth. Hitler was one of the great leaders of the world. (Someone is going to misunderstand that statement. So lemme add to the misconstruction with an Amen.)

Do you grok your own personal code? If someone followed you for a solid week, 24/7, would they say you lived up to it? Or would they say you fall short?

Who you really are is who you are when you think no one is watching. So, who are you you? If you woke up in a Soho doorway, could you give your name?

What would happen if you lived up to your own personal code of conduct at a 100 percent level?

Here's a final thought. If you (and I) can't order our own life to fit what we believe, then how can we attempt to impose order on the world around us?