The Record

At times we may be disposed to conduct our lives carelessly or indifferently, on the assumption that when it is convenient or necessary, we will settle down and give a more favorable account of ourselves. However, always there comes a day when we have reason to learn how great is the importance of the record—all the record—not only the parts we are proud of, but also the parts we wish weren’t there. Many records are kept on file, all of which add up to the complete picture. In school, a record is kept of our accomplishment in every course, which affects our future as we become candidates for further opportunities. Millions of young men have come to learn the meaning of the military record that goes with a soldier wherever he goes, explaining his past and qualifying his future. Records are made of the least infractions of the law that come to official attention. Records are made of credit ratings, of the certainty and the promptness with which we pay off our obligations; and any future credit or financial backing we may expect or hope for is qualified by the record. Records, indelible in memory, are made by our friends and loved ones, of our daily conduct and consideration in the many small matters that mean so much in the making of happiness or unhappiness. But beyond all the records which are kept by others, the record of our lives is kept within us. We are, in fact, our own record. We are the summation of all we have done, all we have seen, all we have thought, all we have experienced; and when the books shall be opened and men shall be judged, self-revelation, self-judgement, self-appraisal maybe expected to carry the weight of the evidence—with each man knowing fully what he is. Sometimes youth permit the record to become clouded, thinking that it won’t matter later. Unfortunately, however, it does matter later. And often there follows the heartbreak of wishing the record were different. And so it would seem that this should be said to young people, everywhere, at home or away: Live so that you can look at anyone without an accusing conscience, without the memory of things you wish weren’t there. Be straight and open and honest. Don’t permit anything to get into your record that will not stand scrutiny under the searching light of day. If you do, it will rise to plague you in times to come, and your own thoughts will accuse you, even when others do not, for we ourselves are our eternal record.