The Right Thing

Doing the right thing is a goal that we all wish to fulfill, though its accomplishment is sometimes more difficult to us than we would want to admit. Perhaps the key is to remember that our decisions have long lasting effects upon ourselves and upon others. As much as possible, we want those lasting effects to have a positive impact. Thus, following the way of our hearts can be a reliable guide, as the ensuing poem relates.

I Picked Up a Paper Wrapper

I picked up a paper wrapper
That blew in front of me.
I might have left it to blow here and there,
But I wanted to do the right thing.

I stopped to help an elder
To cross a busy street
I was going the opposite way,
But I wanted to do the right thing.

I kept on working steady
When the doors were almost closed
The company was going nowhere,
But I wanted to do the right thing.

I slowed for someone in traffic
And let them go ahead,
It slowed a bit my passage,
But I wanted to do the right thing.

I refrained from speaking ill
Of someone who did me harm
The opportunity was there,
But I wanted to do the right thing.

When I am alone and no one is watching
With the chance to take and run,
I do my best to give and hold
Because I want to do the right thing.

For at the end of my day I realize
From the days looking back at me
I needn’t have picked up the paper,
If someone else had done the right thing.