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Can you be bought,
Character and integrity sold?
How much was it worth to you,
Can it be measured in filthy lucre…gold?

We make many TRADE-OFFS,
As, through life we go;
We buy and sell every day,
Character and integrity…dealt a lethal blow.

Did we buy our friendships,
And, how much were they worth?
Plotting…scheming…bargaining,
From the day of our birth.

For a bit of security,
In an uncertain world…today,
We’ve compromised or looked the other way,
Just how much did we pay?

What we sold…for a pittance,
Can it ever be regained?
Or are we doomed forever,
Because of this little game we’ve played?

TRADE-OFFS…TRADE-OFFS,
Or do we call it…compromise?
You scratch my back…I’ll scratch your’s,
Character and integrity…we’ll tranquilize.

We become hardened,
To all that is right;
“Well, everybody does it.”,
From these thoughts…take flight.

Do we really want to go through life,
Being so…unreal;
To be like all the others,
And, to their mind-set…yield?

TRADE-OFFS…TRADE-OFFS,
What’s the price…what will you take?
How badly do you want “it”,
Is it worth your character and integrity…to forsake?

These are lasting decisions,
Once we’ve plotted our course;
Sometimes these decisions cannot be undone,
And, we live with remorse.

So, be careful…every day,
In the decisions that you make,
Don’t compromise…TRADE-OFF,
And, your true self…forsake!

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June 26, 2003

Aimee Love
(LHG)