Standing up for what's right

It is likely one of the most iconic photographs in the history of humanity. And rightly so.

The man is unidentified. Anonymous. No name. As far as anyone knows, if he’s alive today he may still be serving time as a political prisoner, over 30 years after he stood up in the face of an oncoming tank to protest the brutal government crackdown on a democratic uprising in China back in 1989.

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As I write my two columns each week, my two primary guides are “kindness” and “truth.” If I can stay loyal to those two pillars (otherwise combined to be known as “courage”) then I have done well, no matter what some may think.

It’s a pretty obvious fact that when we try to do a lot of good in this world we often become a marked man or woman.

So instead of risking such a mark, many among us strive instead to do just a “little” good as we pass through this life, all the while making sure we are not rubbing powerful people the wrong way, not taking any real chances, and not creating a big stir. That way many of us manage to do a “little” good. And that’s exactly how much good we likely then do; a “little”.

But if you and I want to truly do a lot of good, we must take chances.  We must, at times, risk our reputations. We might even sometimes risk our jobs. Ultimately, we may even go so far as to risk our lives, if the cause we are standing up for is great enough.

I have not always succeeded at standing up in the face of adversity in my life for what is right. Too many times I have failed. Some of those times still haunt me.

Ah, but those times in my life when I have mustered the courage necessary to risk my reputation in order to further kindness and truth in this world … rarely have I felt more courageous, more whole, or more alive.

I will share with you here one of those times.