The Righteous Path

I’m listening to The Righteous Path by Drive-By Truckers right now. Hits close to home and turns me a bit introspective every time I hear it. I do a lot of thinking lately about how I have lived my life, whether or not I am repeating habits of old or learning and growing? Am I truly living up to my own belief systems and have I set the bar too low (or too high)?

Years ago, I had some pretty far fetched dreams balanced by some pretty achievable goals. Seems I missed all of them. I lost the dreams and missed the goals. Now a days, my dreams and goals are pretty much "put food on the table" and "make sure the car has gas." Yes there are greater aspirations inside me but I feel an oppression that keeps them from surfacing.

As we make choices in our lives, we will be judged. If you look righteous up in the dictionary, one of my better friend’s name comes up. He is just shy of qualifying as a priest. I think I’m a pretty straight up guy. I’m honest and have a high level of integrity. Compared to my friend, I’m a heathen. But it is wrong to compare ourselves to other’s systems of morals. We must define our own morals and be true to ourselves for no matter how you live, someone will judge you harshly. The challenge comes in not judging ourselves too harshly and simply asking, "Am I on the righteous path?"