A “creed” can be loosely described as a single guiding principal. Do you have a creed? If you think you have one, you should take a piece of paper out, write it down, and then start living by it. You might find that this simple exercise isn’t as easy as you’d think. Having a creed is one thing; living by a creed is quite another.
You have to know yourself pretty well to have a legitimate creed. To know yourself so well, you can sum up your whole life by one guiding principal is quite a feat. So often, what we say we want and what we really want are completely different things. We say we love people, and then we treat them badly. We say we believe one way, and then we act another. Is the problem that we don’t know what we actually want and love, or is it that we just don’t admit what it is that we do love?
Can someone realistically live by a single creed? If someone can live by one creed, does that creed act more like a puppet master, controlling everything someone does, thereby alleviating them of the responsibility of considering the effect of their actions? Is that really what having a creed is about?
If living by a creed means living by a set of principles that are interchangeable and called upon in time of need, is it possible to have a set of creeds that don’t conflict with each other? Maybe it’s just a matter of using a particular principal because it gets the best result, or at least the result we desire in a given situation.
If you have a creed, should you wear it for everyone to see? Should others know your creed just by the way you live? Is everyone’s creed going to be the same? Should all creeds be the same? If everyone had the same exact creed, what would the world be like? If we should all have the same creed, who gets to decide what the one creed is?
If you decide on a creed, can you legitimately change it later, or are you stuck with it? Of course, you can’t really be forced to live by a creed since it’s hard enough to live by a creed voluntarily. So, in the spirit of answering at least one question per column, I will answer the last: I think you can change your creed as many times as you want. That being said, if you’re changing your creed, was what you had before really a creed, or just a good idea?
How important is it to have a creed? Most believe that life is hard enough without a compass. Most of us need a set of principles to guide our lives. Words without actions serve no purpose. It is no different than a cheating politician proclaiming the need for ethics reform. We can live our lives wearing a mask that hides what we truly believe in an attempt to get what we want. For some, the end justifies the means. Maybe this is the creed they follow.
A necessary element of discovering who we are is being honest with ourselves. A necessary element of improving ourselves is the willingness to change who we are for the better. We all live our lives by a creed. We don’t always recognize or admit it, but it is true. So, take the time to figure out what creed it is you live by, and consider the possibility that you may need a new and improved one. Few of us are perfect, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Ark. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com