living with principle.

As I wake up this morning, I look at the world from the eyes of gratitude and being humble. In the past I didn't always wake up with that mind set, but I had to learn and build that mind set. The definition of principle is a fundamental truth, a guiding belief, or a basic rule that forms the foundation for a system of thought and action. It can refer to a moral or ethical rule for conduct. If I am grateful, it's harder for me to take things for granted, at least in my mind. I have had loss and hardship in my life and been homeless, meaning, no place to go. However, I was able to get through them, but not by myself.

You have to be humble to be able to ask for help, and deep-down hope that those you ask are willing and able to help. If we have some sort of morals or principle, we find a way to help. That doesn't mean giving them money and that is it. Recently a single mother posted on a group on Facebook that someone stole her 8-year-olds scooter and helmet during the race weekend I attended. The single mother posted the story with disbelief and frustration with people in society. One comment on the post was "Just buy them another one." Someone responded, "It's the principle behind it that matters."

That made me think a lot about the mind set so many people have. If you take things for granted, then your response would probably be, buy another one. Unaware that many people in this world right now live paycheck to paycheck. They are taking what they have for granted and maybe don't even see what can be important. The emotion of the that 8-year-old devastated the mother. She wanted to fix it, and it wasn't that easy. For many it is black and white but other people live in the grey, finding a choice difficult. A single parent works hard to pay the bills and provide, while trying to keep a smile on the child's face. Then someone without principle disrupts everything by taking something from the child.

Every day I wake up, I try to be a good role model and live in principle. Am I perfect at that? No! I do my best and when I make a mistake, own it and learn from it, which is part of living in principle. At 47 years old, my life has had many ups and downs, triumphs and failures. With every moment and occurrence, a choice is presented. As a recovering addict, I live differently today and yes, I am not afraid to admit I am a recovering addict. Some have forgiven me for my mistakes, and some have not. All of those choices have brought me to this moment, writing about principle. I hope those who read this post consider how they live in principle but also find acceptance that your principles may vary from others.

Every day is a new day and if I wake up then I have gratitude. Almost 17 yeas ago one morning I almost didn't wake up. Have you ever experienced that? I hope you haven't, but if you have, put it in context for yourself. Do you have gratitude for being alive today. If you do, think about how you live today, because that gratitude can feed into your principles. I do know that the child whose scooter and helmet was stolen, will be smiling again. Knowing that makes me smile and grateful.