Sound too complicated for little kids?  Actually the concept of choice-response thinking is pretty simple:

As human beings, we always have a choice in how we respond to other people, events, situations––and even to our own impulses.

In his book, Discipline without Stress, Punishments or Rewards, Dr. Marshall explains:

Because we have the freedom to choose our responses, we are responsible for our own choices (behaviors).  By teaching young people that they choose their own behaviors, they begin to become conscious of the fact that no one else chooses their behaviors for them.  Choice-response thinking encourages self-control and responsibility.  In addition, having young people become aware of choice-response thinking can have a liberating effect, especially with those who feel they are helpless or victims.

Recently I found a wonderful picture book that could be used to introduce the concept of choice-response thinking to very young students, PreK-Grade 2.

“Pete the Cat,” is written by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean.

Pete is a happy-go-lucky cat who seems to innately understand the wisdom of choice-response thinking!  Pete really gets it!  He understands that by choosing his responses to seemingly negative situations, he can also choose to live a happy life!  You know the type––Pete’s the guy who makes lemonade when handed a bunch of lemons!

The story begins with Pete proudly walking down the street in his flashy new white shoes.  By the enthusiastic song that he sings, it’s obvious to the reader that Pete LOVES his new white shoes.  What happens next? (and again? and again? and again?)  Pete absent-mindedly and repeatedly manages to step in big MESSES!

To a less conscious cat than Pete, this might spell disaster––new white shoes unexpectedly stained red!  (then blue… then brown… you get the picture!) But Pete never skips a beat in his response to negativity!  He calmly deals with each situation as it occurs.  Every time he encounters a “problem,” he simply decides to change his perception of the situation.  After each “disaster,” we know that Pete has made a decision to remain in a happy state, because immediately he starts singing a new song. “I love my red shoes! I love my brown shoes!” belts out Pete.

By the end of the book, it’s obvious (even to very young people,) that CHOOSING a positive response to a negative situation has a great benefit;  Pete retains control over his own happiness.  A “victimhood thinker,” he is not!  What a great role-model for us all!

By going to youtube, you can watch the author, Eric Litwin, present Pete the Cat to an audience of enthusiastic youngsters.  The best parts are when Pete repeatedly sings various versions of his upbeat color song, “I Love My ____ Shoes!”   (The publisher, Harper Collins also offers a free download of the song and video soundtrack on its website.)

In addition to using this book to support the introduction of DWS, here are some other lesson possibilities for Pete the Cat:

• It’s a perfect story to introduce/reinforce the literary concept of a “circular journey.”  The book begins with Pete in white shoes––and then as you might guess––by the end of the story, Pete’s shoes are white once again!  Here is a link to a lesson plan for teaching the concept of a “circle story,” and another link to an example of a graphic organizer that could be used with students as a follow-up activity.
• Another obvious opportunity is to read this book as part of a study of colors or color words.
• Many primary teachers like to take advantage of books with repetitive story lines because they create starting points for students to make take-off pages of their own.  Scroll down on this link from the publisher’s website to a couple of blackline masters of Pete and his shoe.  Although these sheets are intended to be used as part of a game, they could easily be adapted to suit the purpose of creating a class take-off book too.

Have fun with this book!  Perhaps, if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself robustly singing “I love my white shoes!” at odd moments of the day!

Click for some related postings:

I’m hoping to find a list of picture books to introduce the four DWS levels.

What is the correct way to introduce the Hierarchy?

Level A Books – Anarchy

Mean Soup, by Betsy Everitt
Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, by Diane deGroat
Miss Nelson is Missing, by Harry Allard
We Share Everything, by Robert Munsch
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes 
When Sophie Gets Angry Really Really Angry, by Molly G. Bang

Level B Books – Bullying and Bothering

Crickwing, by Janell Cannon
Recess Queen, by Alexis O’Neill
A Weekend With Wendell, by Kevin Henkes
Chester’s Way, by Kevin Henkes
The King of the Playground, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Three Cheers for Tacky, by Helen Lester 
The Practically Perfect Pajamas, by Erik Brooks
How to Lose All Your Friends, by Nancy L. Carlson
Big Bad Bruce, by Bill Peet
Bootsie Barker Bites, by Barbara Bottner 
Hooway for Wodney Wat, by Helen Lester 
The Ant Bully, by John Nickle
Goggles!, by Ezra Jack Keats

Level C Books – Cooperation

Disappearing Ducks, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Little Red Hen, by Paul Galdone
The Little Red Hen: (Makes a Pizza), by Philemon Sturges
The Enormous Potato, by Aubrey Davis
It’s My Birthday, by Helen Oxenbury
Swimmy, by Leo Lionni
Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox
The Mitten Tree, by Candace Christiansen
Berenstein Bear’s Lend a Helping Hand, by Stan Berenstain
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, by Dr. Seuss
Farmer Duck, by Martin Waddell
Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett

Level D Books – Democracy

Brave Irene, by William Steig
The Runaway Rice Cake, by Ying Chang Compestine
The Quiltmaker’s Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau 
Little Toot, by Hardie Gramatky
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox
The Legend of the Lady Slipper, by Lise Lunge-Larsen and Margi Preus
Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister
Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney 
Brave Irene, by William Steig
The Hole in the Dike, by Norma B. Green
Snowflake Bentley, By Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Big Bad Wolf is Good, by Simon Puttock

For more than a century, factories on the banks of the Nashua River poured chemical waste directly into the river, making it officially one of the dirtiest rivers in North America in the mid 1960′s.  At that time the color of the river water varied almost daily, depending upon the the dyes released from paper production.  This link shows a startling image of the Nashua River at the height of its pollution and a more recent photo of the river in a healthy state today.

This book could be used at all grade levels.  For older students especially, it would make a fabulous starting point for the study of many related Science, Social Studies and Social Responsibility topics:  ecological systems, rivers/deltas, water quality, pollution, waste management, land use, mapping, timelines, Industrial Revolution, First Nations Studies, leadership, social activism (just to name a few!)

A quick Google search of the title combined with the phrase, “lesson plans” yielded many good finds.

Here are just a few:

Using “A River Ran Wild” to introduce cause/effect relationships in literature

A series of lessons also featuring cause/effect relationships

Another series of lessons to introduce the life of a river and the effects of pollution

An long list of K-12 lessons related to rivers and their care

A science project for intermediate grades in which students build a mock water treatment facility

As for connections to DWS, this book has many!

Here are just a few that come to mind:

• One person (operating on Level D!) can make a huge difference in the world!

• People like Marion are an inspiration to others; enthusiasm and dreams are infectious!

• It requires determination and long term persistence to restore a river; both Level D character traits!

• Worthwhile goals sometimes take years to accomplish; it’s important not to lose sight of your goal.

• Imagine the sense of satisfaction Marion and others must have, knowing the enormity of what they have accomplished!  Strong feelings of satisfaction comes from operation at only one of the developmental levels – Level D!

• Standing up for what you believe takes courage.  Once one individual speaks up though, others will often add their support!

• Even if a situation looks hopeless, there may be a solution.  Don’t give up on your dreams!

Any of the above discussion topics could be followed with DWS reflective questions designed to get kids to think more deeply about their own behavior, or inspire them to pursue dreams of their own:

Here are just a few examples:

• In our own area, are there any ecological systems or wildlife species that are currently endangered?

• What would a person like Marion do about these problems?

• Is there anything we could do to help?

• Why is it important to think carefully about how we treat our planet?

• Why is a book like “A River Ran Wild” important for people to read?

• Have you ever had the courage to speak up for what was right?  How did you feel?  Were you glad you did?

• Throughout the past century there have been other individuals like Marion Stoddart who are enviornmental activists.  Do you know any of their stories?  How could we learn about them?  Are there any people in our own area that are helping to protect the environment/animals in some way?

• What special character traits did Marion possess?  Which do you admire most?  Do you ever demonstrate any of those same traits?

A new documentary is soon to be released sharing the parallel stories of Marion Stoddart’s life and the Nashua River.  The title is “The Work of 1000.”  I plan to look for it!

One thing I always admire about this friend is her ability to take an idea and run with it in the classroom.  She  inspires, elevates and motivates her students!  Teresa often bases interesting lessons for her grade sixes on some little item she’s found in the newspaper, something she’s heard on a radio talk show or something that comes from a good book she is reading herself.  She has a knack for recognizing something small that is full of potential.  She often takes one of these small ideas and then develops it into an in-depth theme that continues to grow, over weeks in her classroom.  I’m always amazed at how she is able to do this so creatively and (yet, it seems to me!) so effortlessly.

Once, years ago––1996, I think––she heard about a boy from Ontario who had just started a social activist campaign called “Free the Children.” When she learned that Craig Kielburger was 12 years old, her ears perked up; that was the same age as the students she taught.  Very quickly she had her class researching and learning about Craig and his valiant (Level D) crusade to eradicate child labor across the world.  Eventually, when she learned that Craig was planning a fundraising trip to our province, she and the class invited him to speak and join their families for dinner, thus making learning come alive in the truest sense!

This past year she had another good spur-of-the-moment “back to school” idea that I thought I’d share, for others who teach older students and might like to kick off their school year in a meaningful and exciting way.  (It would also provide a way in which to reinforce Level D concepts––taking initiative, taking personal responsibility for happiness, character traits of perseverance, determination etc. etc.)

Teresa is an avid reader.  Last summer, when she finished reading “The Last Lecture:  Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” by Randy Pausch, she saw  great potential for using this book with her grade sixes as a way to encourage goal-setting at the beginning of the school year.  After sharing parts of the book with the class and having them watch the youtube video of Pausch’s incredible speech, she had the kids go home and interview their parents. She had them ask their parents about their childhood dreams: Which ones had they achieved?  Which ones had slipped away? Naturally, after all this discussion and thinking, the kids were really well prepared and primed to do a thoughtful job of writing their own goals––for the school year and beyond.

When Teresa and I were in university together, we had a Social Studies Ed. prof who often recommended, “Whenever you learn something interesting yourself, share it with kids.”  I think that Teresa learned that lesson well from our prof!

The book is called “Everyday Greatness–Inspiration for a Meaningful Life.”  It’s actually a book of excerpts from Reader’s Digest that have been organized into various themes.  The Table of Contents looks like a list of virtues.  In each theme there is commentary by Stephen Covey and then some related quotes.

I find that I can more easily motivate my students when I feel motivated myself!  Reading stories about individuals who have acted from a place of internal motivation encourages me to think deeply about the value of such behavior.  In turn, this inspires me to talk about Level D to my students more often.

I’ve copied a section from this book to pass on to a friend of mine.  She just started working as a teaching assistant and recently attended a morning workshop introducing the PBS/PBIS approach.  Although she thought the workshop was upbeat, she said that she had her doubts about the program.  Her concerns were based on the reactions of her own children to a similar rewards/awards program at their schools.

She explained that her own two boys motivate themselves to do well in school and go out of their way to be good citizens; putting in hours and hours of school service. Sometimes her sons express resentment because they feel that their school isn’t truly interested in rewarding effort or ability as they say they are.  The boys see that the teachers often seem to use rewards/awards to try and change the behavior of those students who actually aren’t doing very well in school at all. Sometimes they feel that their own accomplishments and efforts are overlooked while poorly behaved students receive more attention and rewards than they do.   She said that since she had to agree with her kids on their analysis of the situation, she didn’t know what to say to them to make them feel better.

At that moment, I was rushing off to an appointment but I realized that the next time I see her I should give her a copy of the DWS Hierarchy and explain how she could use it to explain Level D motivation and the benefits that go along with such operation to her boys.  The next day when I came across the book, “Everyday Greatness, I thought that a few paragraphs from this book, describing Level D would also probably encourage her sons.

Here’s what I copied off to give to her:

Occasionally, the world witnesses a heroic feat or discovers a person with rare talent.  Every now and then, a scientist makes a pivotal discovery or an engineer designs a revolutionary device.  Each decade or so, a pair of politicians sign a bold peace initiative.  Annually, extravagant affairs tout the year’s best actors, musicians, athletes, and salespeople, while hometown festivals crown the person who can eat the most chili peppers or sound the best yodel.

Such singular events and accomplishments often appear in sizzling media headlines under the banner of “greatness.”  And in most cases they do represent a type of greatness that is deserving of attention and applause.  For many of them represent achievements that move society forward in significant, progressive ways, while others simply add a much needed measure of spice and humor to life.

But most people know there is another type of greatness that tends to be more quiet by nature, one that generally escapes the headlines.  Yet, it is a greatness that in my opinion is deserving of higher honor, ever more respect.  I call it “Everyday Greatness.”

Everyday Greatness is what I have called, in other settings, “primary greatness.”  It has to do with character and contribution, as distinguished from “secondary greatness,” which has to do with notoriety, wealth, fame, prestige, or position.  Everyday Greatness is a way of living, not a one-time event.  It says more about who a person is than what  a person has, and it’s portrayed more by the goodness that radiates from a face than the title on a business card.  It speaks more about people’s motives than about their talents; more about small and simple deeds than about grandiose accomplishments.  It is humble.

When asked to describe Everyday Greatness, people typically respond with descriptions of individuals they know personally, such as a farmer who year in and year out weathers the storms of life, provides for family, and helps neighbors.  Or a mother who knows she is not perfect but who perseveres in doing her everyday best to exhibit unconditional love to a challenging child.  They describe a grandparent, a teacher, a work colleague, a neighbor, or a friend who is always dependable, honest, hardworking, and respectful of others.  Above all, they describe someone who is within reach of emulation, sensing that they do not have to be the next Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln or Mother Teresa to exhibit Everyday Greatness.

Yes, the type of people they describe when trying to define Everyday Greatness are the same caliber of people I described in the opening lines of this Introduction––people who, despite the negative noise in the world, still somehow find ways to step up and do their part to make a positive contribution.  The key is that it is all part of who they are every day.

It’s important to say that the school my friend’s kids attend has the greatest intentions in the world; they want to motivate kids who aren’t doing that well.  It’s unfortunate that the path they have chosen to take–that of rewarding–is actually causing discouragement in some of their other students, the ones who already choose to operate at a high level.  I’m sure the teachers would be greatly disheartened to know this.

To my way of thinking, PBS has the potential not only to discourage some of the best students but it also creates a situation that makes it even more difficult for less motivated students to ever develop that inner drive that teachers are hoping to promote.  The outwardly “upbeat” feel of reward programs makes it difficult for people to see the forest because they’re focused on the trees!

This is a great book!  I like to use it several months after I’ve taught all four levels of the DWS Hierarchy.

This story is especially valuable for discussing a concept from the DWS approach, that of “choosing your teacher.”  In other words, when a student acts on a high level, the teacher is encouraged to respond in kind.  When a student acts on a low level, again the teacher will be encouraged to respond in accordance with that choice.  Levels A and B encourage a controlling response from a teacher.  What great information to share with young kids who are just beginning their educational journey!

After I’ve read the story once and we’ve all enjoyed the laughs, I go back through the book again.  We discuss that while the student characters in the book seem to be having a whale of a time operating at Level A, (throwing spitballs, being rude, refusing to do their school work etc.) they end up with results they don’t like.  I focus my discussion on the fact that although these results are unexpected by the students in Miss Nelson’s class, they are actually quite predictable in terms of the DWS Hierarchy.

When people act on Level A, a bully often takes over––in this case, Miss Viola Swamp–– the mysterious teacher who arrives to replace sweet Miss Nelson.  Later on in the story, as the students raise the level of their own behavior, the behavior of their teacher also rises.  By the end of the story, the students are acting on an acceptable (eventually, even very high level,) which allows their teacher to do the same.  The beloved Miss Nelson is able to return to the classroom.  Naturally, everyone is happier!

This book allows me to introduce (at a primary level, using primary words) how we often act non-consciously. When we act without being aware of our intentions (that is, without being clear about what we really want,) we often end up with results that make us unhappy.  In this story of Miss Nelson, the students never do connect their own behavior to that of their teacher––that’s what provides the humor in the story––but in real life it’s very valuable for us to become more conscious about our own choices so that we can end up with life results that please us.

That’s what DWS is all about––using the Hierarchy to assess our own choices so that we can choose with awareness (and therefore, most wisely) in our own lives.  Assessing the choices of book characters allows students to practice this skill and at the same time get more deeply involved in books they read.

Additional posts on the same topic:

Choosing Your Teacher

Choose Your Teacher – Just For the Day!

How Do Students Benefit from Operating on Levels C and D?

What is a Level B teacher?

It’s called “Letters to a Bullied Girl; Messages of Healing and Hope” by Olivia Gardner with Emily and Sarah Buder.

Just as the title promises, the book is filled almost entirely with letters — presented in an easy-to-read format.  The letters are all addressed to one of the authors, Olivia, expressing messages of encouragement to help Olivia get past the serious issues of bullying that she experienced for several years.

Olivia, now 15, suffers from epilepsy and was bullied relentlessly at school and on the Internet, to the point where she considered taking her own life.  In March of 2007, two sisters read about her story in a local newspaper and decided to help.  They began by encouraging students in their own high school in San Francisco to write letters of support to Olivia.  The idea spread and people, of all ages, across the country, began to write.  Eventually, a sampling of the letters were compiled to create this book.

Touching and honest, the letters have been organized into two categories:

• Letters from bullies (who now regret their own actions,) and,
• Letters from people who have experienced bullying themselves.

In addition to just shedding light on this subject for your students, the book could also be used when introducing/discussing the DWS Hierarchy in the intermediate and higher grades.  It’s a great book to share with young people to start some reflection and would be a good addition to any school library.

I found that the book has a “look inside” feature on Amazon that allows you to view several of the letters to Olivia.

Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0061544620/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Although obviously lending itself to a discussion of Level B,  this book can also promote and understanding of Level D.  The actions of the two sisters who began the letter-writing campaign can lead students to contemplate such traits as initiative, compassion and leadership.

The small actions of individuals can lead to many great things!  Very inspiring!

Martin’s award-winning book tells the story of Wilson Bentley, who is sometimes referred to as “The Snowflake Man.” You can read a brief biography at this link.

By learning about the life of Wilson Bentley, students have the opportunity to think about someone operating at a very high level of autonomy.  This is always an inspiring thing to do!  Being a picture book, it is best suited to elementary school students but certainly, a study of this man’s life and work would be appropriate for an older age group as well.

Regardless of how others thought he should spend his time, Bentley’s passion for snowflakes relentlessly drove him to study the mystery of this beautiful natural creation, through developing a unique method of photography. Over a lifetime, he added much knowledge to our understanding of the science of snowflakes and much beauty to the world by sharing his photographs of intricate, individual snowflakes. Thanks to Wilson Bentley, we know that no two snowflakes are identical!

In addition to enjoying the story, learning about snow, and studying his photography and scientific findings, students could be prompted to think about all the various attributes of Level D that Bentley displayed in his life:

• perseverance
• persistence
• sharing with others
• a desire to be of service to others
• kindness
• patience
• intense focus
• self-reliance
• determination
• self-discipline
• dedication
• pursuing an interest with passion
• following a dream, despite the fact that others tried to dissuade him

This website features some original Bentley photographs.

Everyone knows the whimsical fantasies of Bill Peet, but you may not be familiar with his less well-known non-fiction book, “Capyboppy.” It’s one of my all time favorite children’s books!

Capyboppy is the true story of a South American capybara that was brought into the Peet home by Bill’s oldest son, a natural science major in college. Capy–who eventually grew to be 75 pounds–lived with the four members of the Peet family as a much loved and much spoiled pet!

Capyboppy is a great two-day read-aloud for younger children. With a large black and white illustration on every one of its 62 pages, it’s also the perfect book for transitioning older students into reading longer texts independently. If you like cliff-hangers, stop reading on your first day at the end of page 30!

If you like to analyze books using the Discipline without Stress Hierarchy as a reference, the story of Capyboppy provides much food for thought. Although the perfect pet in infancy, as Capy grows to his full size, various problems arise that make the Peets question the wisdom and practicality of keeping a wild animal captive as a pet. Eventually, the family faces a crisis situation and must make a decision regarding the fate of their beloved capybara.

Capyboppy is the story of family painfully wrestling with conscience. What’s the right thing to do with a large and unruly jungle animal that has become accustomed to the finer things in life, available only in a North American suburban neighborhood? Definitely a Level D dilemma!

Although, as a primary teacher, I don’t use this book in connection to any one particular academic theme and simply share it as a good story, when I taught intermediate grades many years ago, I often chose to read Capyboppy as a companion story to a novel study of “Owls in the Family” by Farley Mowat. In both books, wild animals are kept as pets.

Because these two books are set in different decades, it’s interesting to discuss with older students, society’s changing perceptions toward wild animals. In Mowat’s fabulously entertaining novel, describing a much earlier era, the characters rarely consider the type of questions that the Peet family struggle with as they ponder the right thing to do with a pet that would have been happier had it never been taken from its native habitat in the first place.

Although the book, “Capyboppy,” ends on a positive note, I recently found a link on the Internet that explained that after Peet had completed the writing of the book, things did not go well for Capy. Teachers may or may not want to share this true information with children. Personally, I don’t think I would. The upbeat story of Capy, as presented in the book, shares an important message for young people but does so without creating unnecessary emotional upset.

In this book, the author tells the story of how the Paradoxical Commandments came to be written. They are sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa but were in fact written by an American, Kent Keith. As a 19 year old in 1968, he wrote them to inspire young people to leave their mark on the world by making it a better place.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

I couldn’t help but notice how much these “commandments,” and the thinking behind them, fit Level D. I want to show you some of the introduction to this book. These few paragraphs really stood out on the page for me.  This man’s philosophy and approach to life clearly describes the motivation and thinking of Level D of the Discipline without Stress approach.

I think that if you’re interested in promoting responsibility and influencing young people to “do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do,” then a discussion of these Paradoxical Commandments would make a great lesson. See if you don’t agree with me! I wish someone had introduced and discussed them with me while I was in high school.

Taken from the Introduction of the book:

I was nineteen, a sophomore at Harvard, when I wrote the Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership.” They were part of a booklet I wrote for high school student leaders titled The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council…..

During the turbulent sixties, I was actively speaking at high schools, student leadership workshops, and student council conventions in eight states. I encouraged students to work through the system to achieve change. I didn’t tell them that working through the system was easy. I told them that it took sustained effort, and that the sustained effort need to be motivated by a genuine concern for others. I stressed that point because I had seen too many students start out with high hopes and high ideals, and then give up because they got negative feedback or suffered failure. If they really cared about others, they would have the strength to keep trying, even if things were tough.

I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments as a challenge. The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don’t appreciate it. Making the world a better place can’t depend on applause. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done.

I had heard lots of excuses, and I wasn’t buying them. OK – maybe people are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. So what? You have to love them anyway. And maybe the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. So what? You have to do good anyway.

The specific Commandments grew out of my own experience and observations of life. Several incidents that shaped the Commandments are described in the text. However, if there was a single experience behind the Commandments,it was the insight that I had as I walked into the stadium for the student awards ceremony at the end of my senior year at my high school.  It occurred to me at that moment that I was so happy about what I had done that year, and I felt so good about what I had learned and whom I had helped, that I didn’t need any awards. I had already been rewarded. I already had the sense of meaning and satisfaction that came from doing a good job. The meaning and satisfaction were mine, whether or not anybody gave me an award.

That realization was a major breakthrough for me. I felt completely liberated and completely at peace. I knew that if I did what was right and good and true, my actions would have their own intrinsic value. I would always find meaning. I didn’t need to have glory.

Then another few paragraphs further on:

Yes, the world is crazy. If it doesn’t make sense to you, you’re right. It really doesn’t make sense. The point is not to complain about it. The point is not to give up hope. The point is this: The world doesn’t make sense, but you can make sense. You can find personal meaning. That’s what this book is about. It’s about finding personal meaning in a crazy world.

Because the world is crazy and you’re not, you will find personal meaning in paradox. A “paradox” is an idea that is contrary to popular opinion, something that seems to contradict common sense and yet is true. This book is about ten Paradoxical Commandments.

If you can accept the Paradoxical Commandments, then you are free. You are free from the craziness of this world. The Paradoxical Commandments can be your personal declaration on independence. Put them up on your wall as a reminder of your freedom. For the rest of your life, you can do what you believe is right and good and true because it makes sense to you.

The Paradoxical Commandments are not morbid or pessimistic. If you do what is right and good and true, you will often be appreciated for your contributions. But if you can find personal meaning without the world’s applause, you are free. You are free to do what makes sense to you whether or not others appreciate it. You are free to be who you were meant to be. You are free to find the meaning that others miss. And when you find that meaning, you will find a happiness deeper than any you have ever known.

Kent Keith has a website, if you are interested: http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/