Date: January 2, 2013
by: The Observer Staff

Jared Mauldin, staff writer for the Observer

The best advice I ever got was to always do the right thing and worry about your motives later.

Years back, I worked to help clean up a summer camp in North Carolina. We would see drink bottles, paper and random items left in the rooms. With each staffer wanting to be rehired for the next summer, they would do a very thorough job while they were being watched by the supervisors.

While the job was to clean up the summer camp grounds all the time, many campers would skip over things they thought would never be noticed. I mentioned to a fellow staffer that it would be just as false to clean up well in front of the leaders as it would be to not clean up well at all. The staffer told me to do the right thing, then worry about your motives later.

I still use that advice because the right thing will always need to be done, and you can take care of any problems with wanting special attention or to be noticed after you’ve done what was right.
jared@palmcoastobserver.com