The Person I Want to Be

a simple method to determine whether to take a morally questionable action

When I’m not sure about whether or not to do something, I hold my hand in front of me and think, this is the person I am. Above it is the person I want to be. Below is the person I don’t want to be. Will the action I am contemplating take me toward or away from the person I want to be?

I don’t know if this can be effective in curbing obsessive compulsive behavior. I can’t test it directly for that, since I have cured myself of OCD. But I do know that it helps me do the right thing when I have other unhealthy, addictive urges.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.