December 2005 Newsletter
Tale of a Knight
One winter evening, a great knight recalled the victories he had won for his king. As he reflected, he decided he should have some ease as he grew older.
Accordingly, the knight asked his king for leave to explore the frontier and seek his fortune. The king granted the knight’s request, and the knight set out with a dozen choice men.
He soon found himself among a numerous and exotic people. As he traveled, the knight became obsessed with the beauty and riches he saw. Gradually, he forsook the code of chivalry, and what he could not buy, he acquired by force. Some of the knight’s men abused the people and squandered resources until the knight’s frustration with his men outweighed his desire for wealth and power.
Matters ended tragically when the knight and six of his men died in a battle with the other six men over who should rule their lands.
Gradual compromises can eventually devour an otherwise virtuous life. Measure your actions by what you know is true.
By Loren Paulsson
Christmas Time!
It’s Christmas time—time to wrap gifts, cook food, and prepare holiday activities. It is also an occasion to exercise self-control.
Remind children to show self-control by waiting to open gifts and by taking turns receiving and unwrapping gifts.
Family dinners also require self-control in the amount children eat and in the table manners demonstrated while eating. Remind your children to let others go first, sit still at the table, chew with their mouths closed, and other basic manners. Praise your children when you see them demonstrating self-control.
If you plan a holiday gathering, teach your children to walk indoors and through crowds of people, to share toys and games, to greet others by looking in their eyes and saying “Hello,” to shake hands firmly, and to thank those who prepare food and give gifts.
Most important, set an example for your children in the way you handle the relational and logistical stresses of the season.
Have a happy, family holiday. Merry Christmas!
By Robert Greenlaw
Help Yourself
Many recognize when someone has a good attitude. Most dislike those with bad attitudes. But we often neglect to take responsibility for our attitudes.
We tend to blame our bad attitudes on circumstances or people. However, this response does not help us maintain personal relationships or overcome adversity. If we measure life by what we want, there is no internal restraint to prevent us from abusing others or squandering opportunities in pursuit of a “good time.”
Circumstances and individuals will affect our emotions. But emotions, like physical senses, only indicate what is happening; they should not determine how we respond. A person with self-control measures responses against what is right in attitude, word, and action.
Thus, we must examine the ideas behind our attitudes. If we find ourselves excusing bitterness or unkindness because someone hurt us, we should immediately recognize how this response attempts to justify our actions by comparing ourselves with others.
This attitude often expresses itself when we seek to retaliate, use someone else’s failures to make ourselves look good, or regulate our effort based on who is watching. Gradually, this attitude leads to greater irresponsibility and accompanying broken relationships, personal frustration, squandered opportunities, and even poor health.
Take responsibility for your attitudes and responses. Achieve greater success and contribute to a positive environment by developing the internal commitment to reject wrong desires and do what is right.
Honor, Humility, and Initiative
Every worker knows the keys to success are character traits such as attentiveness, creativity, loyalty, and truthfulness—or do they?
In 2004, the city of Winchester approved a $3,500 grant that helped the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce organize a Character Determines Success seminar. Representatives from more than 25 local businesses attended the one-day session to learn about character qualities, such as diligence, forgiveness, humility, orderliness, punctuality, sensitivity, and thriftiness.
"The representatives from those 25 businesses attended the seminars and then returned to their respective companies to pass the information to their employees," said Charmagne Castle, chamber president. "The intent of such a training session is to develop more well-rounded citizens across the entire spectrum of the community." The Character Training Institute of Oklahoma City, a nonprofit organization founded in 1996, presented the seminar.
"A number of private businesses attended the seminar along with city and county officials, as well as the Clark County Board of Education," Castle said. "The overall hope and intent of such a session is that business employees, public servants, students, and juvenile offenders become better citizens who contribute to society in all facets of their lives."
As a result of the 2004 seminar, local officials established a Character Council. Members represent all walks of life and assemble periodically to plan future character training activities.
"The council meets to plot out a community-training emphasis for the upcoming year, whether it is specific character issues that need to be further stressed, or perhaps getting expert speakers to appear at schools," said Rick Beach, a member of the Character Council and a Winchester city commissioner. "We basically map out strategies of how character training can be best implemented, and to what audiences it would do the most good."
Beach says Winchester Mayor Dodd Dixon has provided key support for the character initiative. "At public meetings, the mayor always makes sure to mention a specific character trait whenever somebody receives an award from the city," Beach said. "For example, if a firefighter wins an award for a brave action, Mayor Dixon might also talk about that firefighter’s humility or compassion or generosity."
Castle says future seminars will occur when funding becomes available. "For companies, it is obviously a great program that can result in more productive workers, better morale, and a happier work environment," she said. "I hope more businesses will be able to take advantage of this program in future sessions."
By Kevin Litwin, published by Journal Communications Inc. in Images of Winchester-Clark County 2005 Ed., Vol. 6.