What Happens To Your Attitude Towards Gracious Professionalism When You Leave FIRST?

[Taylor]

"It has been my experience that most folks are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln

The world is a terrible, terrible place. One can hardly read the news without finding innumerable stories of suffering, human and otherwise, often at the hands of other humans. It's a dog-eat-dog world, only the strong survive, the things that come to those who wait were left by those who got there first.

The world is a wonderful, wonderful place. One can hardly step outside without being inspired and awed by the natural beauty that surrounds us all. It is full of compassion, goodwill, and altruism.

Both arguments are certainly valid, and they are certainly not mutually exclusive. This is a complicated world, made more complicated by the existence of multiple complicated societies from many perspectives - geographical, racial, religious, business, socioeconomic...

The glass is both half full and half empty.

Where does that leave us? Nowhere in the FIRST Values does it discuss changing society, changing the outlook of others, making the world a better place. What it does say is one can "enjoy the satisfaction of knowing one has acted with integrity and sensitivity."

Pessimism and optimism are both contagious. If FIRST alumni saturate the marketplace and the world, and bring GP to the masses, great. If not, that's fine too. But every person who practices gracious professionalism daily and at every level can enjoy that satisfaction, and going back to Mr. Lincoln, would go a long way toward happiness.