“If you’re walking down the right path, and you’re willing to keep walking eventually you’ll make progress.” Barrack Obama. This quote means if you make the right decisions and you’re willing to keep making the right decisions and do the right thing, then eventually you will always make the right decisions and do the right thing. A principled person is a person who is most likely to make the right choices and do the right thing. Learning to be principled is hard because sometimes the right decision is hard to make. I learned to become principled when I was in Ireland, I had to decided whether to disobey my cousin or not to.
While I was in Ireland visiting, I hung out with some girls who were dying to meet me and find out everything about New York. Before I left the house my cousin and I had a conversation about when and where she would pick me up.
“I’ll pick you up at 3:00 by the book store.” Cat told me.
“Ok”
“Promise me you won’t leave the mall.” Cat asked.
“I promise.” I stated.
Once we got to the mall, it was very easy to find the girls. They were the only one’s running up to me screaming, they were very excited to met me. To others we seemed like we had met before and were the best of friends. We were chatting, laughing and joking around. After Cat left, we walked to Starbucks so I could get a coffee. While we were walking, the conversation flowed there was never an awkward silence like you get in some conversations.
“What are the most popular brands of clothes that most girls wear?” wondered Megan.
“Most girls that I know, myself included, wear Abercrombie, Hollister, Juicy and Ed Hardy,” I explained. “What are the most popular brands of clothes that girls wear here?”
“Penny’s is one of the most popular brands here.” Stephanie told me.
“What is Penny’s?” I inquired.
“You have never heard of Penny’s!” shouted Cilia.
“Not really,” I stated, “just like how guys haven’t really heard of Abercrombie and all of those other brands I mentioned.”
As we walked through the mall towards Penny’s the sounds of people chatting on the cell phone and talking to people around them was hard to hear because of all the laughter and giggles from the four of us. Our faces were shining and we had smiles from ear to ear, but once we got to Penny’s, the happy and joyful look on everyone’s face had vanished. On the door to Penny’s was a sign saying “Closed for renovations. Please see our other stores in the next town over.”
BANG, BANG, BANG was the only sound heard as we walked through the mall. All the chatting of the people around us had ceased to exist and we felt the burning of eyes watching us walk by with sad faces. All of a sudden, it got really cold; I looked around and saw that we had walked outside.
“Where are we?” I wondered.
“We are going to get something to eat.” Megan stated.
We walked across the street to a restaurant.
“This mall is boring.” moaned Megan.
“I agree.” Stated Stephanie and Cilia.
“It’s ok.” I muttered.
We finished our lunch and walked back outside, but the conversations had stopped flowing.
“I’m so mad that Penny’s is closed!” Exclaimed Megan. “We should take a bus over to Swords, so we can go to the Penny’s there.”
“I like that idea,” agreed Stephanie.
“My mom is picking me up in five minutes, so I can’t go,” admitted Cilia.
“What about you Cayleigh? Do you want to come?” Asked Megan.
All of a sudden all eyes turned on me. I could feel them waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t know what to say. I was in a foreign country, I didn’t know where I was exactly, and I really want to go with them. I then remembered that I had promised Cat not to leave the mall and that she was picking me up at 3:00. I checked my phone to see the time, it was 2:00.
“Sorry, I promised my cousin not to leave the mall. Also it’s 2:00 and she said she would pick me up at three. Maybe we could go another day.” I said.
“Oh, but it will be so much fun and its only 2:00 you have plenty of time. Please come with us!” Begged Megan. “We’ll have you back by 2:45. Plus she’ll never know you left.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I said no thank you.” I Snapped. “Maybe we could go another time.”
I really wanted to go to Penny’s with them and it was a very hard choice for me to make, but I had made a promise to my cousin and I knew I couldn’t break it even if she would never know. I now try everyday to be principled. It can be very hard at times, but very rewarding even if I’m not recognized for my decisions because I can go to sleep at night knowing I made the right decision.
Being principled isn’t about ruining other people’s fun or about not having any fun. It’s about making the right decisions and knowing what’s right and what’s wrong. What other people do sometimes isn’t right and you need to decide if you want do the right or wrong things. To me that’s what being principled means.