If a text being left on “delivered” was a crime, I’d be warden of the prison, holding captive the ghosts of yesteryear.. or rather.. quite literally.. yesterday.
In a world of choices— we don’t want to be treated like an option, and yet… it is the reality we live in.
I always thought it was a little ironic growing up knowing that the slogan of my home state of Missouri was referred to as “the show-me state”, and now as I’ve gotten older—I’ve realized that words have become so cheap that you can’t even buy a gumball with them. So in literal form— I need to be “shown” with effort, intentionality, priority and follow through that someone’s words mean anything at all.
Because otherwise, to me, without that effort, that follow through, and intentionality— you might as well just be the teacher from Charlie Brown: making a lot of noise, but not saying anything at all.
I’m not saying I’m perfect in this area, I don’t think there’s one area of life that I can say with full confidence that I have “arrived” or “achieved perfection” in at all. Nor will there likely ever be.
BUT
I desire to make the waters of those who choose to swim through the depths of my mind and intentions with me, as crystal clear as the ocean you’ll find off of the Maldives coast.
My hope is to create a meaningful way to connect with people where all parties involved feel safe to be kind, open, direct & firm about their perspectives, thoughts and philosophies. It’s really important for me to create a mutually respectful environment where we can follow up with action, with what we initially say in our words.
After all, trust was never built on inconsistency.
The murky waters of wishy washy effort is a swamp that I can no longer entertain, because unlike Shrek— I don’t live in a swamp.
And neither do you.
You won’t have to ask for effort from those who want to give it. You might, however, need to make requests to direct their already existing effort to be conveyed in a way that is more meaningful for you.
But you won’t have to beg for the bare minimum.
Those who are for you, show up, voluntarily without convincing or coercion.
Those who say they will and don’t? You’ll find yourself stuck, wishing you were good enough to be worthy of that level of effort.
But here’s the thing:
You are worthy of intentional, consistent effort.
You’re simply asking the wrong people.
Don’t continue to waste your neurons wishfully thinking about people who continuously show you that they don’t pay you a second thought.
Use your time & effort to make sure you’re following through on those you say you’re closest to. Look at your words, and make them more valuable with your effort, so no one can ever question whether or not you genuinely care.
andrea statler 