My Two Cents

I read something today that confused me. It was written by an acquaintance of mine who was talking about a social issue and what they believed in regards to it. They took a stand on one side of the issue and it was a noble stand that I think many of us would mentally ascend to taking. But in my initial admiration I started looking at this specific person's conduct relative to the issue they were speaking of and the experiences I've personally had with this individual. It made me wonder what side they really were on. Their actions and words did not match.

It's easy to put in words what we think we believe. And in some ways just expressing our values can blind friends and loved ones who want to believe what we're saying. Identifying our principles also make us feel better about ourselves and where we stand...But when these things are tested, tempted and teased our actions, not our words, end up defining what we believe.

And honestly I am not writing this as one who stands at a vantage point of judgment but instead I speak of personal experience. There is a lot of things I said I stood for, believed in and valued. I've been through a lot of testing in the last year or so and learned about myself that my actions and my spoken values are truly something I need to work on matching up with the other. It's tougher than it seems when you are walking through the fire!