“We don’t just do what’s easy, we do what’s right”
Have you ever done something that was not popular with your friends, co-workers, or your family, but you knew in your heart was the right thing to do?
Today I was thinking about something that I was a part of on Christmas eve in 2020, and I remember how hard it was. The night of December 24, 2020, was a Thursday. Every week I host a show on Thursdays called “Thursday Night Live .” It is a show with giveaways, live call-ins, and surprises, but the most important part of the show every week, in my opinion, has always been the people we recognize every week for accomplishing new business milestones or personal ones like birthdays.
I had known for several weeks before that night that I had to figure out a way to do the show, even if I had to modify it, because I had decided that if that was the week that someone achieved something great and they had been looking forward to hearing their name be recognized that they would definitely be disappointed. After thinking about this, I realized the right thing to do was to go ahead and do the show from home on Christmas Eve, even though I would have family over that night.
The hard part was not going to be doing the show that night. I was fine with that but rather helping my family understand that doing the show that night did not mean I didn’t respect them or love them. I knew that even if I told them what I was doing and why they probably would still feel a certain way about it.
I still knew deep inside my heart that it was the right thing to do, so I decided to do it. I would break away for one hour and do my best to recognize as many people as possible and go back to celebrating with family right after. Even though I had alerted the family many days prior to this night that I would be doing this on that particular night, a few of them seemed surprised and quite frankly annoyed.
I could tell that they were not just annoyed because I was doing it but most likely because it made them feel like they weren’t important or I didn’t respect the night and the holiday itself. When it was time, I went ahead and did the show with the same amount of enthusiasm as I always do. Although the show itself was shorter than usual, I did not hurry through the recognition and made sure everyone was recognized the way they should be in the way we always had done it.
Although I had to endure some eye-rolling and deep exhales from some people around me that night, I continued with a smile, knowing that what I was doing was the right thing to do. Eventually, the show was over, I went back to the Christmas Eve celebration, and within 30 minutes, everything was joyous and festive again.
Even though I had told myself that was the right thing to do that night, I didn’t truly realize that until over a year later. A couple of months ago, someone had called the show on a Thursday night, and I asked them a question I ask callers quite frequently. I asked, “what is your favorite TLC memory?”. The answer blew me away.
It was a husband and wife that called, and they explained to me that the most special moment they had ever experienced at TLC was the Christmas Eve of 2020, when they got recognized for achieving the Director rank at TLC. They went on to tell me how hard they had worked that week but figured the show would not happen that night because of the holiday. They said they would never forget that I had taken time away from my family to make sure people were recognized that night, and when they heard their name, it was the most special moment in their life (WOW).
They informed me that they were so happy that night and prayed for my family and me because they were so grateful. At that moment (almost 14 months later), I realized I had done the right thing. Doing something that is hard does not always mean doing something laborious. Sometimes it just means it’s hard to explain to others, but that night I realized without a doubt that it was the right thing to do even though I had second-guessed it that night.
Today, my message is not to impress you or ask for sympathy for something I did but rather to remind you that you must do the right thing, even when it’s hard. Sometimes people won’t understand, and sometimes it’s not easy or convenient, but eventually, doing the right thing will always pay off. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but it always pays off eventually.
I want to thank you for reading my messages every week. I know it’s not easy because we are all so busy, but I hope at least once in a while you think to yourself that reading them was the right thing to do. Have an amazing week!
