Letters to the Editor
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Setting Boundaries
We become what we practice to be. Just as a musician or a writer starts out with one mindset and limited experience, as he practices to be whom he wants to become, he progressively becomes more similar to that person.
Many times, his attitude and philosophy are radically different from the ones he began with. A shy 17-yr-old computer geek is not made into the Marine on the recruiting poster merely by wishing it or saying it. He becomes a Marine by dedicated practice and 13 weeks of intense training. He is transformed into an entirely different person, physically and mentally.
It may be that mandated force of habit has the power to transform even the unwilling. Remember that resolution you made a month ago to run 5 miles every day, even though you hate to run? If you have kept to that promise, your attitude and body are likely significantly different today. Your perspective and self-image are changed.
But there is one benefit from public promises - it draws attention and closer scrutiny to the actions of the offender, and he will be much more likely to follow the rules in the future, because now the boundaries have been clearly defined.
Of course, the exception to that rule is the idgit in the White House. He just destroys the evidence and moves his secret torture chambers to new locations.