Every experience in life, everything with which we have come in contact in life, is a chisel which has been cutting away at our life statue, molding, modifying, shaping it. We are part of all we have met. Everything we have seen, heard, felt or thought has had its hand in molding us, shaping us.

- Orison Marden

Without doubt, character is about choice. The many actions and decisions that you make daily assist in forming character. I like to call it the constant pitter patter of life. Electing to perform positive daily tasks has a tremendous effect on forming character. Your actions! Your words! Consider them! Improve them! They impact your character daily.

What I have found over the years is that those who can stand upright in the face of scrutiny have an abundance of integrity. They know what it means to say no in the face of everyone else crying yes. That is not an easy thing to do.

I have also found that many of those who make the most noise draw the biggest crowd. That is unfortunate because those with character and integrity should really be the ones leading. Their decisions will always be wise decisions.

I have taught my 7 year old grandson to make sure that the things that you do in the dark will always be able to stand up in the glare of daylight. He understands that he is the victor when he turns his back on folly.

What I usually say to him is that your words must be screened, filtered and then weighed before you send them out to work for you.

We laugh because he teases me sometimes. He loves to mock me and say that I should keep my guard up and protect myself at all times. We laugh some more.

Presently we are reading a doubleday book by Peter Schweizer called Do As I Say Not As I Do. It is a short book of about 250 pages. Schweizer begins the book by thanking the celebrities for living such inconsistent lives.

We thought that to be a bit on the comical side. However, when you get to reading the book, it is not so funny. The people are well known and well liked. They say they espouse certain beliefs, but they live contrary to those beliefs.

At the end of the day, the easiest letters for me to write have been for people who have been living examples of a character reference letter. Conversely, the most difficult letter for me to write has been for people who have been hypocritical examples of a character reference letter.