Moral Compass: Defining Individuality

            You find yourself in a situation that presents only two options. The first option will greatly benefit you at the expense of a stranger’s happiness. The second option will benefit the stranger, but will provide you with no physical reward. This opportunity will never present itself again. Which would you choose?

Nearly every time that you are presented with two or more options, a decision must be made. In every conscious decision an individual processes the outcomes and then acts accordingly. Each person is different in their thinking, yet the process by which everyone ultimately comes to a decision under these circumstances is very similar. First, the individual must encounter a situation that provides two or more options. This occurs countless times on a daily basis, though the gravity of each situation certainly varies. Then, the outcomes of each known option are weighed and compared with one another. After this is done, an intentional choice is made depending on what outcome the individual prefers.

Try to envision being placed in the situation described above. Would you choose to benefit yourself or a total stranger? The answer will vary from person to person, simply because everyone has different guiding factors that influence their decision making. Like a moral compass, these deciding factors are what point us in a direction when we are given choices. These points can be anything; family, survival, music, religion, happiness, or anything else. The list is limitless. Some may wish to benefit themselves above others, while some may focus on being selfless toward everyone, or perhaps only a select few. If everyone follows their own true North, they will all travel along different paths. This is individuality.

The influencing factors in my life are the guidelines for each decision I have made or will ever make in my entire life. These so-called “points” to my moral compass are ultimately everything that makes me the person I am. When I am reduced to my simplest form, in its most basic entirety, I am motivated by only a few things. In no particular order, these are love, happiness, values, education, music, survival, freedom, family, friendship, and America.

As an individual, my moral compass differs from yours. This does not make you wrong. It does not make me right. I personally believe that you should take pride in what makes you unique and celebrate individuality. So I implore you to follow the advice of a very clichéd idiom. “March to the beat of your own drum.”