i wish the music in starbucks wasn't so loud
although then it would just be silent and everyone could hear each others conversations
what i should probably say instead is, i feel like the volume of music right now isn't conducive to a 23 year old college student with as much add as any person probably has writing a blog
life would be better (easier maybe) if we would just say what we mean right?
we have taken the art of awareness and consideration for other people's feelings, which is in its purest form good, and morphed it into an excuse to lie
i dont mean that harshly, its just something i guess ive observed
i'm not saying we should all go around being cruel and hurtful to people and labeling it as honest either
because i think that happens too
we think if we preface or add as an afterthought to something the phrase "i'm just being honest" that it's ok to say whatever we want and then walk away feeling little or no responsibility for the effects of our words on another human being being
these are 2 extremes that occur in our lives everyday and neither of them are ok
we of course recognize their unacceptability when they occur too us, but we don't usually care if we are the ones that are participants
it blows my mind that, to the best of my figuring ability, i feel like i got preached to until about the 5th or 6th grade about honesty being the best policy and then 7th grade came and honesty got traded for tell the truth as long as it isnt offensive to other people and if you are mad at someone then tell them everything you feel even if you know it isn't really true and then label it honesty...because nobody will attack you if you say youre just being honest or 'real' about how you feel, its a perfect cover
at chick fil a we are encouraged to "gauge a guest" when they come in on their mood to see how much enthusiasm/small talk/connection is appropriate at that moment because we recognize that in certain situations on any given day, at any given moment, what one person should be able to/is capable of handling/engaging in is not the same as any other guest necessarily
real word terms would probably include tact for this particular practice
its important to be conscious of people and what is going on in their lives and realize that there are times when compassion and empathy for their load makes us refrain from any urgency for truth
because truth will still be truth a week from now
and if its really that urgent that we have to let them know how we feel right this second than we should remember that 99% of the times the more rasher the thought the less realistic it is
giving into rash thoughts are satan's easiest and sometimes biggest victories with us, because we sense such urgency we fail to think through what we are doing/feeling/saying....
on the same token however we dont need to allow the sympathy for burdens to become our excuse for not speaking REAL truth to people
Jesus didn't refrain from being honest with people about things but when He was getting peter out of the water because he had taken his eyes off of Him, Jesus saw that what peter needed was not Him saying "you moron, i knew this was going to happen, don't you see how great i am and how puny you are and how you need to have better faith" no, instead He immediately reaches out and grabs peter, then gently speaks what peter already knows...and then goes into the boat with His friend
Jesus sees that what is urgent right now is to help peter by reaching out, and THEN speaking, with love and compassion, what peter needs.
balance is hard
there is no instruction manual on the 12 steps to knowing what someone needs and when they need it because every person is a book themselves
the best way to become better at reading people though, is to know the Author of the books themselves
much like when you hang out with someone for so long you start picking up their habits and tendencies, if you hang out with Jesus, you, bit by bit, become like Him, He develops your heart to be similar to His
"Whoever Abides In Me, I, Too, Will Abide In him"
if we pursue the Lord, He will draw near to us and remain in us, we will become more like Him and less like us
and if we become like Him, and He was perfect at balancing not only this concept but every other one, then eventually, we will be good at it too...not perfect, but better than we are now
and thats the point right?
we know if we are good at this life thing if we are better at the end of the day then the beginning right?
because since there has never been another person like us, we cant judge our success at life by anyone else, so the only way to judge it is to say that we have learned at the end of the day from our successes AND failures and have moved forward accordingly
Praise God
Just Keep Going
you're doing it
Just DONT STOP
Get Movin, kid.
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