On Being Where We Ought to Be

When we are supposed to be doing something we don’t do, often we have to argue with ourselves inside. A man has to give himself a reasonable reason for what he does or fails to do, and if the reason isn’t a good reason, it may involve an uncomfortable contest between two sides of himself.

This is true in all our obligations and activities. When we don’t live up to the best we know, when we don’t deliver the best we can, when we aren’t present where we are supposed to be present, when we aren’t doing what we ought to be doing, we have to keep telling ourselves why; and this kind of conversation takes off the edge of every enjoyment like a brooding, threatening cloud that hovers over a picnic; like intrusive noise in the background when we are trying to listen to music; like an interrupting voice when we are trying to engage in quiet conversation. An uneasy conscience is a discordant obligato that detracts from all sweet sounds.

A man simply cannot keep his mind on his work will full effectiveness when he has to keep telling himself why he doesn’t do what he knows he ought to do, why he doesn’t go where he knows he ought to go, why he doesn’t keep appointments he knows he ought to keep, why he disappoints people he knows he ought not disappoint, why he lets small causes and small excuses dissuade him from more important pursuits.

Actually it often takes more time to talk ourselves into and out of the things we ought to do than it does to do them. And often we actually save time and greatly increase our effectiveness and efficiency if we simply decide to do what we know we ought to do and then set about to do it.

To all of us and to young people particularly let it be said again: Being where we ought to be when we ought to be there, doing what we ought to do when we ought to do it is one of the indispensable factors of success, of effectiveness and efficiency, and of personal peace. It avoids the necessity of inside argument and often takes less time than the time we take telling ourselves why it is all right not to do what we know we ought to do.