Governing One's self

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine around politics. And the topic of governing one's self and moral character came up. We were talking of the my taking issue with the issue with the moral character of politicians and how, if they cannot govern themselves, then I am leary of them governing a country.

That thought led to others. The primary one being that despite the fact that we do it every day, we have no right to attempt to "govern" the life of another individual. For no one knows their experience better than they. Even I, as a therapist, do not attempt to govern the lives of my clients. I may see things they don't see. I may offer suggestions they might be unaware of, but everything and anything I suggest is a hypothesis and the free will to choose to go where I lead or test what I suggest remains in the hands of the clients.

It truly is a gift and an honor to be handed the pain of others and trusted with it. And it's not something that I take lightly. And yet, how many politicians, lose the gravity of the position that they hold. The act negligently within their own lives, and for me that calls into question their ability to act with integrity in the position of power that they hold,

And yet how many of us do the same? How many of us, choose to turn a blind eye to our own shortcomings and instead focus on the shortcomings of others, likely without any depth of knowledge as to that person's experience or their reasonings. And yet we stand, upon our moral high horse, and scrutinize and call into question and judgement, the lives and decisions of others while purposefully and blindly turning away from our own.

You see....I am not fit to govern someone else's life. I need to ensure that first and foremost I walk my own with integrity.

Food for thought.......