Did I Sell Out?

Who You Are When No One's Looking? ~Bill Hybels


Whether we articulate them or not, we all have values, those core criteria by which we make daily decisions.  They are most loudly expressed, screamed out to the world for all to observe, in the voice that is our actions, a voice that is never a whisper, in the things we do, especially those things we do when, we believe, no one is watching us, when, we believe, no one is looking over our shoulder to pass judgement on our actions, when, we believe, we are out of sight thus out of mind.

The values I espoused in my youth are not the same values I live by now nor will they necessarily be the values that accompany me into the future. There was a time when my values were hardcore pro nature, save the whales, profess homage to Mother Earth, pray to the Sun god (pray to anything but the deities of organized religion), cure the earth of the cancer known as Homo Sapiens. My loyalty was to the earth and to myself myself, to my own selfish desires. I was radical in my political views believing Nixon should have been executed Nixon for murdering our citizen soldiers when he sent them to Vietnam and for betraying the people's trust during Watergate we he spit on the very laws he pledged to uphold.

My values are no longer on the far side of left. I have mellowed with age. I don't see the events unfolding in life as if the only position on any issue is either the blackest black or the whitest white instead am aware of the shades of gray that accompany most any situation. Does this make me a sellout? Have I betrayed the idealism of the younger David? Have I betrayed myself? I believe my changing values are the reflection of the natural growth of a maturing person. I believe, through experiencing life, particularly experiencing life in other countries I have a broader perspective, I have a better understanding of the human condition, I am have been educated by walking the long journey on the short road of life. I believe, if I hadn't allowed my values to evolve over the decades, I would have betrayed all humanity that has gained wisdom in the life experience, I believe, if I had remained stagnant in the idealism of my younger days, I would be a sellout to myself.