Honour Integrity and Loyalty

Sometimes in order to act with Honour and Integrity your loyalty must be sacrificed. There has been a couple instances of late where I have had to act on my own honour and integrity and toss loyalty to the wayside. In both cases children have been at risk, or I have felt that children are at risk. Not only as a counsellor, but as a Canadian citizen I am bound by law to report any act that I may believe is in danger to a child. Child well-being is a serious matter and reporting it is mandatory regardless of the social ramifications. A child has no choice in some cases and it is our responsibility as adults to keep them safe no matter if they are blood born or not. In both cases recently I have voiced my concern about child safety and done what I believe is right regardless of the social ramifications, and trust me there have been some. My life revolves around several small circles and both cases I have experienced social isolation because I believed I was acting in the best interest of children. Does it bother me that I have lost friends? Sure why wouldn't it. The knowledge that I can look at myself in the mirror and know I have acted according to my own integrity gives me honour even though the act was not loyal to the people in question. I was loyal to my beliefs and that gives me more strength than anything. The knowledge that a child is safe allows me to sleep at night. That is a priceless feeling.