Actions Speak Louder than...Intentions

I was sitting in a circle with men whom I had just met. The ages varied greatly from young men to those wise through aged experience. Through the discussion, a question came up that I have never heard before. It got my mind thinking very seriously about what the answer would be in my life. The question was simply, "What would the world look like if everyone had the same attitude and acted like you do?"

Think about that for a second. If every single person on this planet acted just like you do, what would it look like? I'm not talking about your specific skill sets, but rather your work ethic and how you choose to spend your God-given 1,440 minutes every day. Let that sink in.

This thought scared me, and I am fairly positive that it would scare you as well. Do you feel like you get the best use out of those minutes, or do you intend to do lots of things that never actually happen?

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde

This quote by Wilde hits home for me. Often times we get so caught up in planning things that will be tremendous and extremely fruitful, but more often than not it comes to a grinding halt somewhere before it reaches completion.

You remember kind acts that people did for you years ago. What about those good intentions they had that never materialized? They don’t make the impression on you that the action did. Actions speak louder than intentions.

Almost everyone has good intentions and strives to be a positive impact on someone, but intentions only go so far.

Let’s look at this question on a grand scale. If everyone acted the way I do which is self-described as procrastinating, half-hearted, and slothful; we would be in a world of hurt. Say the entire world took just one day to act like you do on a typical basis, would it be the most productive day in the history of this planet, or would it be the day that airlines crashed all over the globe due to air traffic controllers getting preoccupied with Facebook instead of focusing on the task at hand? Would anyone show up to work on time? Would everyone do 2 hours worth of productive work yet charge for 10?

Be completely honest with yourself. Get past your façade and vision of yourself that you try to portray to everyone else. What does the real you look like? If we want to change the world, the first place to start is with you. Not only with good intentions, but with good actions.