“The courage that is most needed in the day-by-day battle of life is not physical but moral. Moral courage is consecrated self-mastery. It is the optimism of the soul manifest in action. It is the kingly consciousness of the individual that there is a something within him that makes him greater than all the forces that can be ranged in battle array against him.” ~ William George Jordan
I loved a comment made by one of my readers yesterday. He made the astute observation that:
…we are responsible for what comes to us, not because we caused it all, and not because God willed it necessarily, but because we are inherently noble, capable stewards of enormous creative power. We can certainly learn from adversity and limitation, but fundamentally we are here to transform and use to advantage whatever comes, good or ill as it may appear. All else flows from the acceptance of that responsibility.
Oddly, in taking this approach you also take the shortest path to unpopularity. Anyone who assumes responsibility to this degree makes those who don’t, look bad. When you accept full responsibility for all that comes within your sphere of influence, you set a high standard that brings pressure on the elements of mediocrity that may be lurking in the shadows around you.
Some will reject the new standard, rebel against it and perhaps even seek to eradicate it, but the creative power you bring to bear on the situation – evidence of the “optimism of the soul manifest in action” – will make you greater than anything that seeks to extinguish the light shining through you.
Gregory Hake 
Taking responsibility for one’s life can lead to unpopularity for the reasons you state. Happily, the freedom that lies on the other side of the choice is worth the unpopularity.
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Absolutely.
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You know, I think most people would say they would never react negatively (and especially violently) to a powerful creative force that they were witness to, but the evidence that is happens regularly is prevalent, and it is astounding to constantly see it. I think when each of us sees that kind of unwillingness to compromise integrity, when we see the evidence of someone else’s moral courage, we have a choice forced upon us. We have to prove through our response to the initial impulse whether we have our own moral courage or not. I think oftentimes, when someone’s lack of moral courage gets exposed, they simply get angry.
This, of course, should not ever be a reason to waver with our own life choices. We should let our excellence show no matter what the repercussions. I am not advocating braggadocio, which is a blustering façade to cover the lack of moral courage, but I always will advocate the quiet excellence that is the potential of every person on the planet, if they have the courage to make the right choices.
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People do sort themselves out based on their internal orientation and their reaction to the evidence of genuine righteousness.
The light is troublesome to one who seeks to dissemble in the darkness. It can be heartbreaking to see a person turn away from the light, running for the seeming security of a dark hole somewhere, but pursuit of such a one is rarely wise, because they will turn desperately in their flight “and rend you.”
An honest person, on the other hand, will be pleased, even if embarrassed or uncomfortable, to have the light brought up on an area of foolishness. The steady brightness of honest living does sort things out in the end!
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I love this post!
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Just as a good king is a just and noble ruler of his kingdom, so the “kingly” consciousness extends its rulership over the person’s life and emanates influence in kind. A toast to moral courage!
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Taking the high road will never make you popular. The outrage that is spewed in reaction to righteousness is a result of the cover being blown or as it was written “no cloak for their sins”. The excuses of being sinners or only human are shown for what they are. There are many examples of this in our history, those with the moral courage to live their lives in the rarefied above the fray where lives make the differences that matter the most, where stunning power resides to create the world that the Omnipotent designed.
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Excellent point!
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