Cowboys Play by the Rules
Today media and popular culture bombard us with examples of people looking out for number one. People trying to get an edge. Behaviors run the gamut from athletes using performance enhancing drugs, to inside-traders cheating the market on Wall Street, to fraudulent marketing scams or cheating on exams. Those who engage in these behaviors excuse them in the misguided belief: The end somehow justifies the means. The idea that a person is responsible for self-discipline in abiding by rules seems idealistic and naive. Rules are made to be broken. Fair play is for losers. Nice guys finish last.
Once again we find the need to ask; where do our young people learn the value of playing by the rules? Their heroes tend to be those society holds up to celebrity. Who are the heroes they are given to admire as persons of integrity? Maybe we should make sure a bit of the cowboy code rubs off on them by helping them find heroes whose integrity they can admire. Maybe it’s a teacher. Maybe it’s a coach. Maybe it’s you. Integrity is its own reward, if you practice it.
The first three values in my cowboy code describe a person of integrity. You can find people of integrity in our culture today; but you have to look for them. Few of them are stars or popular idols. Those who are enjoy their celebrity from some other achievement in athletics, entertainment or professional excellence. Integrity is incidental to celebrity. We don’t celebrate integrity in ordinary walks of life, it’s expected. When it comes to human behavior, reward something and you get more of it. Ignore something and it’s not important.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
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Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
Once again we find the need to ask; where do our young people learn the value of playing by the rules? Their heroes tend to be those society holds up to celebrity. Who are the heroes they are given to admire as persons of integrity? Maybe we should make sure a bit of the cowboy code rubs off on them by helping them find heroes whose integrity they can admire. Maybe it’s a teacher. Maybe it’s a coach. Maybe it’s you. Integrity is its own reward, if you practice it.
The first three values in my cowboy code describe a person of integrity. You can find people of integrity in our culture today; but you have to look for them. Few of them are stars or popular idols. Those who are enjoy their celebrity from some other achievement in athletics, entertainment or professional excellence. Integrity is incidental to celebrity. We don’t celebrate integrity in ordinary walks of life, it’s expected. When it comes to human behavior, reward something and you get more of it. Ignore something and it’s not important.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
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