Those are my principles

THOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES

Comedian Groucho Marx quipped, "Those are my principles. If you
don't like them, I have others."

You and I have principles. And we also have opinions. I have
opinions about what I think is right or wrong or good or bad. But
they're only opinions - I COULD be wrong! I won't try to build my
life around my opinions, but I WILL endeavor to stand by my
principles.

A 15-year-old boy learned a valuable lesson about life
principles. He wrote a letter to "Dear Abby" about finding a
woman's wallet that contained $127 as well as the woman's
identification. He hopped onto his bicycle and peddled over to
her house - about a mile away. He told her he found her wallet
and she gave him a big hug. She also gave him twenty dollars.

That evening the boy told his parents about the event and his
father said, "I don't think you should have accepted $20 for
doing what you should have done. A person shouldn't be rewarded
for being honest."

He pondered his father's statement and decided he would return
the money. He biked to the lady's home and gave her back
the twenty dollars. She didn't want to take it, but he told her
she had to - that his father pointed out something to him that he
had never realized before. Her eyes filled with tears as she
said, "This is one for Ripley."

The boy's question to Abby? "Abby, who is Ripley?"

Is a life built around principles so unusual that Robert Ripley
should mention it in his column "Believe It or Not"? When
ideals such as honesty and a personal standard of always
doing the right thing guide our every action and decision, we
actually change. These great principles shape our lives and make
us into persons of character. They build self esteem and teach
confidence. That boy is fortunate to be raised by a wise father
who had the wisdom to say, "Those are my principles."

Martin Luther King, Jr. put it well: "The time is always right to
do what is right." Those were his principles. Decide to
always do what is right - today and every day - and you will find
yourself building a life that matters.