Your Conscience Is Your Discriminator - Use It Wisely

Well, do you have a conscience?

Are you the type who always looks over their shoulder after they have done something to see what happened? You worry about the reaction of others as well as the repercussions of your acts. In fact this may inhibit your actions at times.

Or do you act and move on. Act and move on. Not caring about the result or the consequences? Or who gets the credit. The excitement of the game is enough, or is it that you just don't care what you create either beneficial or the havoc you might leave in your wake?

Probably most of us are in between these two extremes.

Not just actions though is it. Our conscience gets involved with thoughts, words and deeds, too. In fact every thing we do, get involved with, has repercussions. We cannot get into all of that otherwise we would either not do anything or get lost in trying to work out the consequences - and miss out on living our life!

What principles do you have? Do you feel we need them? Upon what do you base your conscience?

I, for one, feel that our principles and values are the backbone, a foundation on which to live. A basis from which we can meet life's challenges. Can help take the sting out of decision making.

Do you have scruples? I do feel there is a difference. A difference between scruples and principles. Principles give us guidelines on how to act or live, scruples are more like a moral, ethical, inner feeling compass by which we think. Yes, there may be more than one alternative way forward, but our scruples will stop us using one or more of these - they just don't feel quite right.

Why do we hesitate when we know what to do? Sometimes because we hope for more. Perhaps we are distracted. We may have a last minute thought which intervenes and inhibits action. Or plain old procrastination rears its ugly head. Or maybe our conscience is working in there, too.

Do we have remorse? Do we get a feeling on how something has gone? Do we not know within ourselves, if we give it the time of day, that certain things we have done or do would have best been avoided or just not been on our radar at all?

Do we suffer from self reproach? The more we are feeling and aware beings the more likely we will take ourselves to task for what we have done. Even when it was good and wholesome and we did the best job we could have done. Providing it is healthy and not extreme this can be beneficial. We should not be denying our feelings, should we?

Do we treat others fairly, honestly? Hopefully we do. We may treat others as we find them. We may treat others as we would like them to treat us. Small words but important decisions.

How do we treat ourselves? This is the other side of the coin. Low self esteem and poor self image is often as a result of putting ourselves down and not feeling that we are worthy. A slippery slope we should best avoid.

Do we have doubts? We all do at times. They can help us to question what we do and our motives. Just don't let them take over and leave us as a non-acting and nervous shell of a human being.

Do we act with caution or just get stuck in? We have to judge what to do. Based upon how we feel, what we see, what has gone before and what the situation is. Sometimes inaction is action, other times we just have to put one foot in front of the other.

Do we ever have second thoughts? And third? Who does not? But the more we can live in the moment we can live life free of restraints and constraints, providing we are giving and contributing and not in taking and grabbing mode.

Is our conscience our friend and guardian or big brother watching over us. I firmly think our conscience should be. Our very own assessor and evaluator. We need to 'share' the responsibility and the action.

Does our conscience matter? Should we care? Will others just be able to cope anyway? When we stop caring do we stop living?

Our faults, they are tests for others right? Or are they things that we need to resolve, need to come to terms with, need to improve. Need to change and think of the bigger picture. Our part in the world and how we interact with others.

The way forward.

To realize that we are human beings and not human actings or human thinkings. Live with feeling and care, for others and ourselves, and we will rarely go far wrong.