Strength of Character!!

A lot of people believe that strength of character means to avoid being in situations where you might fall weak or give in to a temptation. Personally, I don't believe in it. The strength of character is not to lock yourself in a room where there are no temptations and project that you are a strong person. Being strong means to stand in between all the temptations and then say 'NO' to them, then stick to what you really believe in.

Here, I am not talking about doing the right thing or the wrong one. I do not believe in right or wrong. There is no absolute right or wrong. These are very subjective terms based on people's perceptions and often used to justify their actions. People just do what they believe in and label that as the right action.

I heard/read somewhere that "Strength of character is doing the right thing when no one is watching over". I will like to change it a bit. For me, "Strength of character is doing what you believe in, when no one is watching. It is also doing what you believe in, when the whole world thinks that you should do otherwise" And that is the difficult part specially when your loved ones are against your belief.

This strength is not something you are born with, it is what you develop over time. Thats why it becomes even more important to be out in these temptations, to be a part of the realities of life rather than being a silent spectator from a distance. Our conscience is the source of this strength. It stops us from giving into temptations, and each time we give into the temptation, the volume of the conscience goes down until the time when it becomes mute. And that is when we don't care what we do, we don't remember what we believe in. We get haunted by our own thoughts, actions, words..

I know that this strength may cost a lot of things a lot of times, sometimes everything you have but it is worth it.. Coz then you are not haunted by yourself. You can look in the mirror and smile and have the most peaceful sleep in the world.