What does it mean to you?
Keeping my word.
Take responsibility for my actions.
Stand up for my beliefs.
Admit when I'm wrong.
Take responsibility for my actions.
Stand up for my beliefs.
Admit when I'm wrong.
It means to do what one says and vice versa. It means doing the right thing when no one is looking. It means doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing, not the associated accolades. It means enjoying doing the right thing, even when no accolades are given. You honor those who deserve honors.
I could think of several more, but that's a start.
I could think of several more, but that's a start.
Veterinary medicine (and I suspect, human medicine as well), sometimes has some really gray areas - areas where what's right isn't completely clear and you have to try to figure out the best solution to the problem.
I have a personal saying, "I can only be responsible for my own actions."
I developed this after numerous occasions when clients would ask me to do something unethical (usually euthanize a pet because it had become inconvenient, or perform a surgery I was ethically opposed to like 4-foot declaw or debarking), and when I refused, would tell me it would be my fault when they took it behind the barn and shot it or put it in a sack and drowned it in the pond or dumped it on a country road. And then... yes... I would want to try to do something to save the pet from that fate.
Instead, I would remind myself that I can only be responsible for my own actions. If I did a debark on a yappy dog - then I have done something I find unethical. However, if he drowns the dog because I refused - he did that, not me. I can't be responsible for evil things that he does, and I can't save every pet that's in trouble, no matter how much I might want to.
So... I don't know if that answers your question, but I just try to remember that - I have my ideas about what's good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical (those things are NOT all synonymous), and as long as I keep to that, and let you keep to your morals, that's all I can do.
Don't know if that really answers your question... but that's my answer.
I have a personal saying, "I can only be responsible for my own actions."
I developed this after numerous occasions when clients would ask me to do something unethical (usually euthanize a pet because it had become inconvenient, or perform a surgery I was ethically opposed to like 4-foot declaw or debarking), and when I refused, would tell me it would be my fault when they took it behind the barn and shot it or put it in a sack and drowned it in the pond or dumped it on a country road. And then... yes... I would want to try to do something to save the pet from that fate.
Instead, I would remind myself that I can only be responsible for my own actions. If I did a debark on a yappy dog - then I have done something I find unethical. However, if he drowns the dog because I refused - he did that, not me. I can't be responsible for evil things that he does, and I can't save every pet that's in trouble, no matter how much I might want to.
So... I don't know if that answers your question, but I just try to remember that - I have my ideas about what's good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical (those things are NOT all synonymous), and as long as I keep to that, and let you keep to your morals, that's all I can do.
Don't know if that really answers your question... but that's my answer.
^^this
Couldnt have said it any better.
Well said but I do have to add to the "keeping my word" even when it is not on a handshake deal or on paper
