HOW MUCH CONVICTION?

Walking the way we talk. “I would love to listen to your words but your actions speak so loudly I cannot hear you.” The concept of a track record is lost on most folks. The people around us judge us by our actions; our intentions though perhaps noble are meaningless if not followed up by the indicated action. How many times did it take for your child to tell you that they would clean their room or some other chore beneath their status, which they then immediately blew off, before you wised up to their true intention? Not many I would guess. Many times, I have had someone come to me for advice, agree that it was the correct action to take and then proceed to launch in exactly the wrong direction. I often wonder why they bother. The fact that they ask means they wish to follow a different path but in their heart they have already decided on what they are going to do, the consequences be damned. I would ask my son why he agreed to clean up his room, then blow it off, knowing full well that a reckoning would come when he didn’t. The best he could come up with was “I planned on doing it.” When asked when that was exactly a blank look followed with “I don’t know.” The joy comes in knowing that one day my son will be on the other side of that exchange. It cannot be said enough; if you wish to be respected, be respectful, if you want love in your life, be loving, honesty comes from being honest and so on. The aspects of living we desire in our lives will only materialize once we begin treating those about us in the manner we wish to be treated in, we teach by example and true leaders lead from the front.