Walking the Talk

Weathervane, Amherst, NH, December 2005, HP Photosmart R817, Exposure 7/1559 sec @ f4.5, ISO 50, no flash © Steven Crisp

Before we end the first week of 2006, I'd like to reflect upon an important insight learned in the closing moments of 2005, and see how that might help to chart the course for the new year.

I was having New Year's Eve dinner (and wine and champagne -- too much champagne ;-) at my cousin's cottage on Tucker Pond. He and his wife had invited some good friends of theirs, and we had a wonderful meal, and to me, fascinating conversation.

Surely we were discussing issues of great consequence! Oh what brilliant dialog and insight!

"We must become the change we want to see." -- Mahatma Gandhi

And as I listened to my soft-spoken friends, I realized that as much as they talked about issues, they also took action in support of their beliefs. In short, they "walked the talk". I'm not sure I could say the same, or at least not as much as I would like to.

"Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On and on we talked about issues, late into the morning, and I found myself asking "so what are you going to do about it?" only to realize that through personal action, they were indeed addressing those aspects under their control, and thereby making a difference. It's so easy to be paralyzed by the scope of the challenge, and in the end, do nothing but "talk" about it.

"The world we are experiencing today is the result of our collective consciousness, and if we want a new world, each of us must start taking responsibility for helping create it." -- Rosemary Fillmore Rhea, New Thought for a New Millennium

So what are you going to do about it? First of all, are you going to set your own compass, or will your weathervane swing in which ever way the wind blows? Assuming you intend to take control of your direction, what tangible steps in your own life or in your community, are you going to take that will embody your principles and move us closer, little by little, to that desired state. It is nice to "think great thoughts", but it is even better to take some action in their direction.

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." -- Lao Tsu

So I will set my course, and begin the journey. And I hope to have even more interesting discussions, buttressed with action, on next New Year's Eve.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy