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Every once in a while, something happens and makes you stop and think. I don't mean think in the sense that you sit around in the afternoon sun sipping on a drink and musing about what a beautiful life it is. I mean really stopping. And thinking.

It's at these times when you tend to see the bigger picture. You see beyond your next class, or meeting or appointment. You see beyond all the things that annoy you. You see beyond gossip, and malice and discontent. You see beyond your educational and career endeavors.

You see beyond what you normally perceive as every-day life.

It's also at these times when you are met with the ultimate but discouraging reality that you might be doing things wrong. You're hit with the realization that some things just will not work out the way you might have thought they would.

And today I realized that it's at this very time when it is healthy to be able to admit to yourself that you ... for a change ... did not do the right thing. It seems as though these are the only times when you give yourself a chance to understand and question your instincts, and the only times when you can actually change.

All in all, I think I learned one important lesson today: Good leaders are not only honest to those they represent, but they are also honest to themselves.

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