If you start something finish it

“Don’t start something unless you plan to finish it.” Is a phrase my father told many times while I was growing up with the hopes that the principle of finishing things through would sink into my often distracted mind. Looking back, I can see that this one little phrase has greatly impacted my life. For instance when I joined the local Boy Scout troop I remember my father saying, “If you start scouts; you must complete scouts. You cannot quit.” I received the rank of Eagle Scout by the time I was 16. Were there times I wanted to quit? Yes, being in Boy Scouts was not ranked high on the cool point scale to say the least but since I started it I knew my father’s expectations to finish it. The same goes for starting college, I knew since I started college that I was expected to finish college and I did.
It was not until just a couple of days ago I realized just how ingrained this little phrase has become part of my character, and this revelation came out of the most unexpected place. I had started to read, “Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings,” by Rene Descartes published by Penguin Classics, and as I was reading this book I came to the conclusion that I really did not enjoy it. Not only did I not enjoy the book but I also had a slew of other books that I received for Christmas that I really wanted to get to dealing with ancient Greece and Roman history, (I am a nerd, I know.) Logic would dictate that since I was reading for my own enjoyment that I could simply just put down the Descartes book and pick out one of my other books to read. There would be no real consequence for taking such an action, but I felt guilty when I tried to lay down “Meditations,” and I could not bring myself to stop reading it. Why? “Don’t start something unless you plan to finish it.” I had started reading this book and although it is not as enjoyable as I know my other books will be I have to, out of principle, finish it.
So is there a point to all of this? First I would like to thank my dad for constantly telling me and teaching me that finishing what you start is important. In fact, to finish what one starts says more about the character of the person more than the object, action, or goal that gets finished. Another thing my father said often was, “A man is only as good as his word.” I believe that these two phases are the two sides of the same coin. Honesty in word and action creates a good character, a character like my father’s.