Ethics are taught at a variety of stages in life. They become the basis of how you should learn to share as a kindergartener and why you are told not to fight or cheat in school and why working hard in a job is always considered to be important. But as we grow older, the question of morality with respect to ethics changes. It is no longer only about the black and the white and the right and the wrong. It is moreover about what is most right, least wrong and also at the same time what is best for you.
On a personal note, recently I’ve been on the hunt for a variety of things. I have been on the lookout for new opportunities, like the rest of my peers, I have been looking to grow what I already have and also juggle the things that I need to do. This conundrum really dawned upon me though, when I saw people I know and respect choose paths that weren’t moral.
These people had seemed to have succumbed to greed, placing them in the grey areas of ethical standards. These questions and thoughts plagued me. It asked me to reconsider what I thought was right or wrong about society and what my alignment with those things meant. For example; The act of me taking up a lot of different projects. Is that ethically right for me to do and is it okay to put prior requirements on the back burner for the same? Also, if I feel morally okay and my situation is legally sound but ethically is questionable, what does the decision that I make mean?
While this has been a web of my thought thus far, I have all these questions that are important to me, as they should be you because they really do affect how I feel. When I am questioning my actions and questioning the ethics of what I unless I am morally fulfilled these make me anxious. I always want to be doing the right thing for me and with respect to those around me. While I have learned that this is a \ grey area, I have learned that even grey has shades. Each one representing a different thought process than the last. While many may be out of my comfort zone, I also want to learn how people feel when they do things that are amongst those shades.
So what is the difference between ethics and morals? While neither is legally binding ethics is the basics upon which society survives and morals are more individually. Morals are these almost hard and fast standards by which we choose to hold ourselves to. As a person with high anxiety, I definitely go through huge periods of mental unrest when situations around me become morally questionable. In considering that people around me might feel the same way, be aware of how grey things really are. Being ethical is just another way of being moral. It’s a way of feeling good about what you’re doing and it’s a good way to help the people around you feel the same.