Actions vs. Intentions (inspired by Lindsey)

Here’s the thing… If you know me, if you follow the randomness that I write, if you take the time to talk to me about just about anything, what I’m about to write about will come as no surprise. If, however, you haven’t had the amazing opportunity to meet me (I’m really not so self-absorbed, quite the opposite – just keep reading), you’ll know what sort of person I am after reading this.

I find that we are in an era of spreading love, kindness, compassion and general good will towards others. Well, at least we like to say we are. Remember when you were younger, maybe you’re early adulthood, when those with a bit more life experience than you would kindly remind you that actions speak louder than words? Remember how you usually just let whatever these older, wiser, more experienced others had to say go in one ear and out of the other? You should have listened!

I’m really tired of hearing about all the amazingly great things that those around me are doing for society. Reality check #1, if you’re out doing something “good” just so you can brag about it to your friends and those around you, then you’re not spreading anything remotely close to the love, kindness and compassion I previously mentioned. In fact, you’re doing the opposite. You’re trying to make yourself out to be better than the people you’re bragging to. You’re trying to make others feel less than what they are because they aren’t as awesome as you. Not really the outcome you should be after.

I recently read an amazing honest and truthful blog written by the incredibly talented Lindsey Nanette. The idea behind her post is that Love is the key to end hatred. I’ll not go into a lot of detail regarding the content of the post, instead you can read it here: http://memoirsofaprosetitute.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/goodbye-fred/. What I’m trying to do here is distinguish between the intention of love and the actual actions of love. I know many people who would do amazing things for the masses, if only… Unfortunately, I know that for all of their good intentions, no actions will ever materialize because these individuals have already placed restrictions on what they can achieve in certain circumstances. If you’re going to spread love, kindness and compassion, you can’t just do this every now and again. It has to be your way of life. It has to be a daily occurrence. You don’t need money (despite popular belief) to be nice. Example: I roll the window down to talk to the homeless guy that is always at the same intersection every day. Our 90 second conversations mean more to him than the $5 I am able to give him every week or so. It lets him know that someone cares enough to see him as a person. It reminds him that his life still has value to someone, even if not to him. Recognizing that he hasn’t been around for a few days lets him know that someone in this world is paying attention to him, if only for 90 seconds a day. (I use this example so as not to turn into the person I described above rattling off a list of good deeds I’ve done.)

Spreading love is as easy as helping someone you see struggling to carry a handful of items without dropping something. Spreading kindness is as simple as offering a tissue to the stranger who just sneezed that you’re now looking at as a threat to your immune system. Spreading compassion is as simple a rolling down a window – go back to my own personal example.

I say all of this just to try and get someone to understand that you can want to be a good person, you can want to make the world a better place, you can want to be a person that cares for humanity, you can want many things. If you don’t actively try to achieve these things, then you’re just blowing a lot of smoke into an already overly-polluted world. We don’t need smoke, we need action!

Side note – to the homeless guy that I mentioned, even if I knew your name, I wouldn’t have mentioned it ;)