DISCRETION – The quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing confidential information.
It is also the freedom, power or right to decide what should be done in a particular situation or act according to one’s own judgment.
The quality of being discreet – the ability or power to decide responsibly. To be wise or judicious in avoiding mistakes or faults, prudent, circumspect, cautious and not rash.
I have taken the liberty of giving you a few definitions of discretion and what is means to be discreet. There was a time when the quality of exercising discretion formed part of a refined individual that was admired or even coveted; a time when standards were set high and values mattered.
These lines or demarcations were clearly defined by parents who submitted themselves to a high moral standard. I remember when we were growing up, we were taught to speak with respect to those older than us while our behaviour was tweaked to bring us in alignment.
However over a period of time these lines have progressively faded leaving us a generation who despise and scoff at morality.
The skill to be discreet or exercise discretion in this day is lost in the scourge of perverseness that has invaded our society and has plundered the innocence of our children. This quality is certainly not fashionable anymore. This false standard, this false sense of freedom of ‘live and let live’ is what appeals to our people today. It is sickening to see the lengths people would go to flaunt their mistakes or indiscretions.
The media and entertainment industry has seized this opportunity and has capitalised on this by creating a market to appease the appetites of those swept away by this. Just look at the programme line-up on your TV guide or read the newspapers and magazines or social networks.
Shows like Cheaters, where every sordid detail of the lives of people who cheated on their partners are viewed. This is a severe lack of discretion. I am certainly not laying blame here because when it comes down to it, it’s a matter of choice.
If we raise our children with having sound morals and sober judgment, they will choose a standard that will enrich their lives and make them successful purposeful people. Christ is the standard. Let us live the standard that has kept and preserved the generations that have passed and that which will most certainly keep and preserve us in this day.
We’ve turned a page
For a new day has dawned
And we’ve re-arranged
What is right and what’s wrong
Somehow we’ve drifted so far from the truth
That we can’t get back home.
Where are the virtues
That once gave us life
Where are the morals
That governed our lives
Someday we all will awake and look back
Just to find what we’ve lost
(Lyrics to Basics of Life – by 4Him)
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