“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” – Benjamin Disraeli
There’s a dad telling his son that he will read him a bed time story later, but later never comes. There’s a daughter texting her mom saying she’ll call her after work, yet she never gets to make that call. A guy replying an empty “I love you”, she asks him to prove it, but he doesn’t know how, because it was just something he thought he should say back. You can already see where this is going right?
“I’ll do it later!”
“I love you!”
“Trust me, I’ll be there for you.”
These are all just words we tend to say, they roll easily off our lips everyday and as soon as they pass those lips the thought of them are all gone. Things we say, merely just words. Empty words laced with a hint of regret, a bit of disappointment and a touch of hurt for the people on the receiving end of them.
Do we really set out to hurt, neglect, deceive with our words on a continual basis? I doubt that the majority of folks are wired that way. It’s not like we’re playing some role on House of Cards ( great show by the way ) or playing up some hyped up role on Survivor or Big Brother where we can use our words to deceive and win a few bucks plus bragging rights. Not at all.
The problem is we appear to value what we say less and less, no longer is a man/woman of his/her word today. The way the day goes by so fast, we get caught up in the to and fro, the tweets and updates, likes and reposts on instagram, facebook and twitter. Besides the social media addiction, we’re running from event to event, work, daycare, court date, traffic jam and busted water heater, that we’re mentally worn down. Too deflated to even remember a conversation at the beginning of the day or 30 minutes prior to the latest life emergency.
Our words begin to mean nothing, and be of less value, be less trusted. Our friends grow accustom to the broken dates you said you were going to make. Your mom gets use to not hearing your voice and fills the time with the voice of Oprah or the silence of loneliness. Your kids read their own bed time stories, and keep their own promises to themselves because you’re always saying “tomorrow”. Empty words, broken promises, violated trust. Tomorrow never comes.
So where do we go from here? Do we stop talking? Stop promising? Stop having conversations with friends, family, coworkers, strangers, loved ones? Let’s not get drastic now, no one is willing to live in a world filled with mutes.
What we can do though is something quite revolutionary and awe inspiring. We can actually mean the words we say. Gasp!
Remember when you were a child and your mom would tell you to “Think before you open your mouth…”? Now as adults we might have to revert to those times and think deeply before we open our mouths to make promises we simply can’t keep. Even when talking to ourselves, not the crazy back and forth outspoken conversation some people have, there’s medication and institutions for those people. But the promises we even make to ourselves, that work out you said you were going to do, that time you said you were going to spend on your new resume, that book you meant to read. You have to mean those words to yourself as well.
Once you speak it, think it into existence, then keep your word. Take that action and get it done. Your family will love you for it, your coworkers will trust you with that deadline, your friends will know they can depend on you. You will feel less frustrated because you won’t beat up on yourself for forgetting and inflicting the brute force of guilt upon yourself.
The woman/man of your word and person of action. Mean what you say, do what you mean!
Now Your Turn…
What promises did you break? Will you think before your talk, commit to, promise? Post below in the comments!
– TRENDS
