I've mentioned a few times before on this blog that there are very few true coincidences out there. Sometimes you find intersecting threads of life that simply cannot be ignored. When something like this happens, you know that there's some higher power out there who's trying to guide you down a specific path.

I had one of these experiences yesterday while having various conversations with SL friends. Over the course of the day, I had no less than 5 different people talk with me about the importance of ethics and being strong and courageous enough to tell other people that what they are doing is wrong. The convos spoke of varying sides and degrees of this concept, but in the end it all came down to never giving up because your beliefs and ethics are one of the few things people cannot take away from you (even as much as they may try). In the end, a change in those beliefs can only come from personal choice.

I know I've made quite a few choices in the past few years that no every one, not even my own RL family, can seem to fully understand. Still... I do feel at the time it was the best choice to make, even at the sacrifice of financial security and wellbeing. While there may be some lingering "what if" regrets in my mind, I do think that ultimately it was worth the risk.

The hardest thing to acknowledge is that while defending your ethics is very honorable, there is often also a great deal of struggle involved. Look at many of the great men and women in history who struck out against the "norm of society" with their own beliefs... some for good and some for not so good. They did so with plenty of sacrifice in their lives, and more often than not with their own death by the hand of those who oppose such radical ideals.

Maybe it'll take months, years or decades to fully understand what was ticking around in that person's mind... but in the end he or she will be remembered most for not straying from the path and their own choice.

So yes... while making that choice is done with great risk, it will eventually be understood and admired. Never lose hope...