We all need a “moral compass.” What does this mean to you? Do you have a “moral compass”? If so, how would you describe it? Here are some questions that can help you identify the moral principles that define your decision making:

1. How do you test the choices that you make? One good test is the test of time. How will you feel about this choice a year from now? Five years from now?

2. Is your speech a reflection of your character? Is your speech different in the locker room than it is at home or at church? Do you have more than one language–a different language for different occasions? Do you use the same language at home around your friends as you do at school?

3. How much do you have to give up of your own values to be accepted by a group?

4. Do you live by a personal code of ethics?

5. How do you decide whether something is right or wrong? Does it always depend on the situation or the circumstances?

6. Are you a conformist? One who goes along with what the majority are doing? Is there anything you wouldn’t do?

7. How important is being accepted? At any cost?

8. The national studies are portraying that everyone cheats to get what they want. Are you a part of the everyone?

9. Do you make and keep your agreements? When someone asks you to keep a secret, can they count on you to keep your word? How much is “trust” worth?

10. Do you think it is ever okay to break a contract? What would the circumstance be?

11. Have you ever broken a law? Have you ever broken a rule?

12. Are problems necessarily a negative influence on you? What can we learn from adversity?

– Gene Bedley