Why Do We Do The Things We Do?

Why do we do the things that we do? I don't know about you, but I can say that about 88% of the things I do are done out of loyalty. We all know this, but Wikipedia tells us that loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause. Check. The philosopher Josiah Royce said that loyalty was the supreme moral good, and that one's devotion to an object mattered more than the merits of the object itself. Loyalty is a great quality to have and in my case it has kept me out of trouble more often than not.

One Such Example: Growing up in a small town one has to learn to entertain themselves. Considering the options are the lone run down movie theater that should be condemned and only shows one movie each week, and the lone bowling ally with crooked lanes and patrons are likely to die of second hand smoke inhalation at any moment. Beyond that you are forced to use your imagination and create your own FUN. Which in the case of far too many Star Valley kids the list goes like this: drinking, having sex, drinking, egging, drinking, and driving really fast. I knew that if I was ever caught at a weekend party my dad would be disappointed in me and therefore, I never went. I realize this may not be believable for some, but I never attended one single drunken party. I had plenty of friends who went, but I stayed away on the weekends; not because I was worried about my weakness I could have likely went and never engaged but because I was worried about what my parents would think of my being there. I stayed loyal to their hope that I be good, and I was. The only vice I had growing up was the driving too fast. And I caught all sorts of hell for that, in high school and out, it came back to bite me in the butt when I tried to get car insurance on my own. Needless to say, I seldom speed anymore. (10 over is not speeding...for the record)

Why am I taking you on this random path of loyalty? Because today while I scrubbed 30 year old file cabinets free of dust I began to wonder if I was an accountant or a maid. And the answer is this: I work for a small firm who is undergoing major change and I am deathly loyal to the cause, therefore I am scrubbing cabinets, moving files, and sneezing up a storm. I am allergic to dust, see the dedication? My head hurts and my throat tickles, thankfully I'm done with the cleaning for the week. Monday afternoon I have some poor suckers lined up to haul out the old cabinets. Yep, all empty; it was not fun, easy, or quick, but its done.

I realize that I could stubbornly not engage in the cleaning of the office, but if you know the men I work with you'd know that it'd never get done. So, I've rode my broom all week trying to get a little cooperation from those who work here and I've loyally taken on more and more responsibilities that are not really in the job description of an in house accountant. I do the things I do out of loyalty to the people I care about most. Why do you do the things you do? What's your motivation?