We live in a world of hypocrisy. All around us are double standards, and far too often we find ourselves doing what we tell others not to.

Just like those of us who swear we will not become our parents, we find out when it is too late; after working so hard to run from who they are, we often stumble right into a mirror where we can see them in our reflection.

This is not always a terrible thing, and it does not mean we are identical to who we never wanted to become.

I like to think, and hope, people have some sliver of good in them and that passed-down character flaws can transform into some sort of decency or at least something tolerable.

We cannot help what passes on when our parents condition us with their behavior during the early, developing moments of our life.

From the beginning we have written and ingrained our moral standards to guide us through life, but we have not yet gotten to test the beliefs written for us or by ourselves.

Many view the title “hypocrite” as an insult, but I think hypocrisy could be reinterpreted as denial or the state we find ourselves in after we realize our assumptions or beliefs about something are wrong.

We are all hypocrites. It is one of humanity’s many flaws.

But, people hold their moral high grounds close to their hearts because it is the very foundation of who they have built themselves up to be.

Whether we like it or not, we prove ourselves wrong because we do not always write our morals with experienced hands.

We speak from the standpoint of others, even though the truest way to find where we stand is to go there ourselves.

The moral guidelines that we write are based off ethical scenarios. This is where we pick up our pencils to write a prediction of how we would face our issues, a draft to our moral handbook.

But, when we tackle our dilemmas head on, we often refer to this draft and see much of the content needs revisions.

This is because until projected into a situation, we could not have been ready for what is really the unknown.

We blindly write our beliefs without seeing the setting. Defining a human being with a one-track set of beliefs is limiting in a world with infinite possibilities.

Rather than going into defense or pointing out hypocrisy like it is a crime against humanity, we can become aware of the personal, moral promises we broke and view this as a lesson to what we all are: learning.

Abbey Whittington is a junior journalism major and can be reached at 581-2812 or anwhittington@eiu.edu.