when no one is looking

The true test of character is how you act when no one is watching...the choices you make when you are all alone. We can teach values and integrity...but how well you learn a lesson is up to you. When my kids leave the house without me, I refrain from saying, "be good," but instead say, "make good choices." I know they know right from wrong...and they know what I expect...and I feel confident that I have given them the tools they need to make the "good choices." The rest has to be up to them. The other day, a teacher pulled me aside to tell me about something my son had done...when he thought no one was looking. She told me that it had been a windy afternoon, and that her big thermometer had blown off of her windowsill, and was laying on the sidewalk. Then along came Cam. She watched from her window ...saw him stop and look at it...and then pick it up, set it back on the sill, and make sure it would stay. Then he moved on. He never even saw her at the window. This teacher was pretty impressed...she wrote a letter that was read on the school news. It was good for Cam to hear it from someone else...someone who is not, day after day, checking the choices he makes. It was good for him to know...that sometimes when you think no one is looking, you are wrong. How often do we walk on by...leave something undone? How long would it take for us to make a difference? A minute? A moment? It's worth a little consideration...